Abstract:
“Neelagiri Padmana”, a traditional polyherbal formulation is being prescribed by traditional
medical practitioners in Sri Lanka to treat abscesses, wounds, and cancers. In
this study, the aqueous extract of the drug was screened for chemical fingerprinting and
bioactivity to access its therapeutic potential. GC-MS fingerprinting analysis was carried
out to investigate the presence of the chemical compounds following National Institute
of Standards and Technology (NIST 3.0) libraries. Total Phenolic Content (TPC) was
determined using the Folin-Ciocalteu assay and results were expressed as Gallic Acid
Equivalents (GAE). DPPH radical scavenging activity was used to evaluate antioxidant
activity followed by half maximal Inhibitory concentration (IC50) using ascorbic acid
as the standard. Cytotoxicity followed by lethal concentration at 50% ( LC50) was
determined using a Brine shrimp lethality assay, while the in vitro hemolytic activity was
measured photometrically (Compared to Triton X100). Statistical significance between
bioactivities was accessed by Pearson’s correlation. All statistical analysis was performed
using R statistical software (version 4.2.2). The GC-MS fingerprinting analysis revealed
the presence of bioactive compounds including Carbamic acid derivatives, Butanoic
acid derivatives, Azetidin-2-one 3,3-dimethyl-4-(1-aminoethyl), and Phenol, 2,6-bis(1,1-
dimethyl ethyl) (> 90% similarity score). The TPC content of the drug was 3.40±0.24
GAE. The DPPH radical scavenging (IC50 = 66.33 μg/ml) exerted significant (p <
0.05) antioxidant capacity compared to standard Ascorbic acid (IC50 = 37.42 ppm).
Cytotoxicity was reported as LC50 = 23.1 μg/ml. The hemolytic activity ranged from
a minimum; of 12.75±3.08% to a maximum; of 94.88±2.36% for the concentrations of
100 μg/ml and 400 μg/ml respectively. A significant positive correlation (p < 0.05) was
experienced between antioxidant activity and cytotoxicity. In conclusion, the results
demonstrate the aqueous extract of the drug manifests certain phytochemicals with
pharmaceutical importance, high TPC, significant anti-oxidant, and cytotoxicity besides
dose-dependent hemolytic activity.
