Antimicrobial, Antioxidant, and Antiproliferative Effects of Coronilla minima: An Unexplored Botanical Species

Abstract

Coronilla species, belonging to the Coronilla genus (Fabaceae), have long been used in traditional medicine for treating cold, diabetes, pain, and as cardiotonics. The goal of the present study was to explore the phytochemical composition and pharmaco-toxicological properties of C. minima. In this regard, phenolic content, scavenging/reducing properties and antimicrobial activity toward pathogen bacterial (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus) and fungal strains (Candida albicans, C. tropicalis, Aspergillus tubigensis and A. minutus) were investigated. Extract effects on human colon cancer HCT116 cell viability were also assayed. Finally, a bioinformatics approach was conducted with the aim to identify putative microbial and human protein targets underlying antibacterial, antimycotic, and antiproliferative effects. Phytochemical investigation suggested that water extract is richer in terms of total flavonoid and phenol content, whereas the hydroalcoholic extract was revealed to be more potent as antioxidant agent. According to bioinformatics analysis, the antibacterial activity of the hydroalcoholic extract could be related to its content in resveratrol. The presence of resveratrol could also explain the hydroalcoholic extract efficacy in reducing HCT116 cell viability. In conclusion, the present study represents the first phytochemical and bio-pharmacological investigation about C. minima. Like other plants belonging to the Fabaceae family, C. minima revealed a good source of resveratrol, which could explain, albeit partially, the efficacy of the hydroalcoholic extract as antimicrobial, antioxidant, and antiproliferative agent.

Phenolic Content and Antimicrobial and Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Solidago virga-aurea, Phyllanthus niruri, Epilobium angustifolium, Peumus boldus, and Ononis spinosa Extracts

“…Intriguingly, the docking run yielded an affinity constant (Ki) in the sub-micromolar range (Figure 8). This result adds to our recent observation about the putative interactions between BC_44 and resveratrol [37]. Nevertheless, the inhibitory effect induced by rutin on B. cereus occurred at concentrations higher than 250 µg/mL, thus excluding the interaction of this flavonoid with BC_44 as a key event underlying the antimicrobial effect induced by P. boldus.…”

“…In this regard, the extracts were assayed for antimicrobial activity against multiple bacterial and fungi strains (Tables 2-4), including Candida and dermatophyte species, that could be involved in infectious disorders of the urinary tract [28][29][30][31]. It is interactions between BC_44 and resveratrol [37]. Nevertheless, the inhibitory effect induced by rutin on B. cereus occurred at concentrations higher than 250 µ g/mL, thus excluding the interaction of this flavonoid with BC_44 as a key event underlying the antimicrobial effect induced by P. boldus.…”

“…It is of noteworthy interest that most of the tested extracts showed bacteriostatic and mycostatic effects at concentrations much lower than LC 50 values calculated via the brine shrimp test. In the present multidirectional study, the inhibitory effects of tested extracts on bacterial and fungi strains were expressed as µg/mL in order to better compare the concentrations of the extracts active as antimicrobials with those active as anti-inflammatory/antioxidant agents [16,37,38]. On the other hand, multiple studies suggest the use of arbitrary units to express the antimicrobial activity of herbal extracts as well [42][43][44].…”

“…To investigate the extracts effects on bacterial, Candida, and dermatophyte growth, the inhibitory activity was compared to ciprofloxacin, fluconazole and griseofulvin, respectively. The detailed protocols of the present antimicrobial assays have been fully described in recently published papers of ours [37,38].…”

Pharmacological Potential and Chemical Characterization of Bridelia ferruginea Benth.—A Native Tropical African Medicinal Plant

“…Considering the potential cytotoxicity of natural compounds extracted from B. ferruginea [ 11 ] and the intrinsic antimicrobial activity displayed by herbal extracts rich in total phenolic compounds [ 50 , 51 ], the present study also attempted to inspect the anti-proliferative and antimicrobial effects of B. ferruginea. The anti-proliferative properties were evaluated against the human colon cancer HCT116 cell line.…”