Antifungal and Anticancer Potential of Argemone mexicana L.

Abstract

Background: Medicinal plants are widely used to treat infectious diseases, metabolic disorders and cancer. Argemone mexicana L. (A. mexicana), commonly found on desolate land of Marathwada (Maharashtra, India) has been used to treat oral cavity infections. Methods: In this study, cold aqueous and methanolic extracts were prepared from A. mexicana stem and leaves. These extracts were tested for their antifungal and anticancer activities. The antifungal activity was tested using the agar well diffusion method, while the anticancer activity against immortalized cell lines was assessed by trypan blue assay. Results: It was observed that both cold aqueous and methanolic extracts of A. mexicana stem and leaves inhibited the growth of Mucor indicus, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger and Penicillum notatum. Antifungal activity of the extract was comparable to that of Amphoterecin-B. A. mexicana extracts had a cytotoxic effect on A549, SiHa and KB immortalized cell lines that were similar to that of berberine. Conclusion: The A. mexicana leaf and stems exhibit strong antifungal and anticancer potential.

Berberine from Argemone mexicana L exhibits a broadspectrum antibacterial activity

“…The first medicinal application for A. mexicana has been reported in "the divine of farmers herb -root classic", Yinxi (2008). Earlier studies also indicated that the A. mexciana exhibit antifungal activity against filamentous and non-filamentous fungi (Siddiqui et al, 2002;Singh et al, 2009a;Osho & Adentunji, 2010;Syam Prasad & Dhanpal, 2010;More & Kharat, 2016). Our studies identified that the active ingredient present in the methanolic extracts of A. mexicana leaves was able to inhibit growth of Gram positive and Gram negative clinical bacteria.…”

“…As the metastasis, a common cause of death due to cancer, largely relies on epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, inhibiting this transition results in both, reduced metastasis and angiogenesis (Chu et al, 2014). The methanolic and cold aqueous extracts made from A. mexicana leaves and stem were shown to exert cytotoxic effect on A549, SiHa and KB immortalized cell lines (More & Kharat, 2016).…”

“…Methanolic extracts. The methanolic extracts were prepared as described in More & Kharat (2016). Briefly, in a tightly sealed container at room temperature, 50 g of the grounded plant material were extracted with 150 mL of methanol.…”

“…Previous studies by (Bhattacharjee et al, 2006;Singh et al, 2009;Osho & Afetunji, 2010;Alagesaboopati &Kalaiselvi, 2012 andSahu et al, 2012) reported antibacterial activity in root, stem, leaves, seed and essential oil extracts of A. mexicana L. In-vitro antibacterial activity of the stem of A. mexicana L and wild medicinal plants were also evaluated by (Rahman et al, 2009 andSaranya et al, 2012). Recently, antifungal (Doss et al, 2012 andMore &Kharat, 2016) and anticancer potentiality of A. mexicana L has been reported (More & Kharat, 2016). Despite the number of antibacterial potentiality reports on A. mexicana L, it is unclear which of the phytochemicals are responsible for this potentiality.…”

Characterizing the cytotoxic effects and several antimicrobial phytocompounds of Argemone mexicana

“…Argemone mexicana , a stress-resistant member of the Papaveraceae family of plants, has been reported to possess a wide-range of biological activities, such as antibacterial [ 9 – 12 ], antifungal [ 13 – 16 ], antiviral [ 17 – 19 ], anthelmintic [ 20 – 22 ], antioxidant [ 23 – 25 ] and cytotoxic/anticancer [ 15 , 26 , 27 ] actions. This plant is native to the West Indies, but today it can also be found in Mexico and throughout the Americas [ 28 ].…”