Investigations into the therapeutic effects of aerial and stem parts of Buxus papillosa C.K. Schneid.: In vitro chemical, biological and toxicological perspectives

In this study, different solvent extracts (methanol, dichloromethane and n-hexane) from aerial and stem parts of Buxus papillosa C.K. Schneid (Buxaceae) were investigated for a panoply of bioassays. Biological profiles were established by determining antioxidant and enzyme inhibition profiles. Toxicity was tested using MTT cell viability assay on five different human cancer cell lines i.e, MCF-7, MDA-MB-231, CaSki, DU-145 and SW-480. For chemical fingerprinting, total bioactive contents and UHPLC-MS secondary metabolites profile were determined. Generally, both aerial and stem methanol extracts had highest total bioactive contents, radical scavenging and reducing power potential. DCM and n-hexane extracts were found to be most active for total antioxidant and metal chelating activity. The UHPLC-MS analysis of methanol extracts revealed the presence of several phenolic, flavonoid, alkaloid, saponin and depsipeptide derivatives. All the extracts were significantly active against butyrylcholinesterase, whereas moderate inhibition was observed for acetylcholinesterase, α-glucosidase and urease. Similarly, a considerable level of cytotoxicity was observed against all the tested cell lines with IC50 values ranging from 26 to 225.9 μg/mL. Aerial methanol and stem n-hexane extracts were found to be most cytotoxic. Principal component analysis was also performed to find any possible correlation between biological activities and total bioactive contents. On the basis of our findings, B. papillosa may be considered as promising source of bioactive molecules.