Planta Med 2011; 77 - PM154
DOI: 10.1055/s-0031-1282912

Antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities of roots of Centaurea cadmea Boiss.

K Alizadeh Astari 1, Ş Baykan Erel 1, C Koksal 2, F Aydın Kose 3, C Karaalp 1
  • 1Department of Pharmaceutical Botany, Faculty of Pharmacy, Ege University, 35100 Bornova-Izmir, Turkey
  • 2Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Ege University, 35100 Bornova-Izmir, Turkey
  • 3Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Ege University, 35100 Bornova-Izmir, Turkey

Centaurea cadmea Boiss. is an endemic taxon for Anatolia, growing wild in N, W & SW of Turkey (1). Phytochemical studies revealed the presence of a sesquiterpene lactone, ivalin, which is known cytotoxic compound on several tumor cell lines (2), together with eupatorin, 5-hydroxy-3',4',6,7- tetramethoxyflavone and β-sitosterols from the aerial parts of C. cadmea (3). In vitro anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antiprotozoal and antimicrobial activities of the aerial parts of C. cadmea extracts have been reported before (4, 5), but no bioactivity study has been performed on roots of the plant, yet.

The present study aims at investigating the antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities of roots of C. cadmea. The antimicrobial activities of extracts of the plant were investigated by MIC method. The antibacterial activities of the extracts were tested against four gram negative (Escherichia coli ATCC 23999, Pseudomonas aeroginosa ATCC 27853, Salmonella typhimurium CCM 5445 and Klebsiella pneumonie CCM 2318) and four gram positive (Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538/P, S. epidermidis ATCC 12228, Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 29212 and Bacillus cereus ATCC 7064) bacteria strains. While the chloroform extract of the plant has no activity against the tested microorganisms, the methanol extract has weak anti-bacterial activity (MIC=64–256µg/ml). The cytotoxic activity were analyzed by cell proliferation assay using WST-1 reagent against three human cancer cell lines; MCF7 (human breast cancer), A549 (human lung cancer), U20S (human osteocarcoma) and one non-cancer cell line; 293HEK (human embriyonic kidney). C. cadmea extract was found active against U2OS (IC50: 138µg/ml).

Keywords: Centaurea cadmea, Asteraceae, cytotoxicity, antimicrobial

Acknowledgement: Authors are appreciated to U. Karabay-Yavasoğlu, Ph.D. and P. Ballar, Ph.D. for their scientific contribution.

References: 1. Wagenitz G (1975) Centaurea L. (Asteraceae). In: Flora of Turkey and the East Aegean Islands, vol. 5. Ed. P.H. Davis, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, UK.

2. Lee J et al. (2002) Planta Med 68:745–747

3. Karamenderes C et al. (2007) Chem Nat Comp 43: 694–695

4. Karamenderes C et al. (2007) Phytother Res 21: 488–491

5. Karamenderes C et al. (2006) Pharm Biol 44: 534–539