Rumex dentatus could be a potent alternative to treatment of microbial infections and of breast cancer

OBJECTIVE:To investigate the phytochemicals and in vitro antioxidant,antimicrobial and cytotoxic potential of Rumex dentatus(R.dentatus)leaf extracts.METHODS:The total phenolics and flavonoids content of R.dentatus extracts were evaluated by the Folin-Ciocalteu and aluminum chloride colorimetric methods respectively.Antioxidant potential of studied plant extracts was assessed through 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging capacity,total reducing power and total antioxidant methods.Moreover,antibacterial and antifungal capacity was also evaluated by disc diffusion method against six clinically isolated multi-drug resistant bacterial strains as well as six fungal isolates.Further,cell cytotoxicity was also evaluated through3-(4,5-dimethylthiazolyl-2)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay.RESULTS:Ethanol extract showed highest total phenolic[(38.9±1.5)μg gallic acid equivalent/mg]and total flavonoids[(17.2±1.9)μg quercetin equivalent/mg]contents.Antioxidant assays indicated that ethanol and methanol extracts possess potent antioxidant potential.Moreover,it was observed that ethanol and hexane extracts have the potential to inhibit most of the tested multi-drug resistant bacterial strains while methanol,chloroform and hexane extracts could inhibit the growth of pathogenic fungal strains successfully.Among all the studied extracts,ethanolic extract showed highest cytotoxicity against MCF-7 cell line then Hep-2 and DU-145 cell lines by MTT assay with lowest IC50 of 47.3μg/m L.CONCLUSION:These results suggest that R.dentatus could be a potent alternative candidate for treatment of microbial infections and for breast cancer treatment.