LC-ESI/MS-Phytochemical Profiling with Antioxidant, Antibacterial, Antifungal, Antiviral and In Silico Pharmacological Properties of Algerian Asphodelus tenuifolius (Cav.) Organic Extracts.

Asphodelus tenuifolius Cav. (A. tenuifolius) is a medicinal plant with a long history of traditional use to treat ailments. In this study, total phenolic and flavonoid content evaluation using LC-ESI/MS analysis and various biological activities (antioxidant, antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral and cytotoxicity) of organic extracts from the aerial parts of A. tenuifolius were analyzed. ADME tools were used to predict the potential of the identified compounds from the most potent extract as specific drugs. As shown, LC-ESI/MS results of chloroformic extract allowed the tentative identification of 12 compounds. Chloroformic extract was rich in polyphenols and flavonoids and exhibited the highest antioxidant activity given by DPPH (IC50 = 25 µg/mL) as compared to the BHT standard (11.5 µg/mL) and ß-carotene bleaching assays (IC50 = 95.692 µg/mL). Antibacterial activity results showed that chloroformic extract has a highest activity against Gram-positive and -negative bacteria, especially against Salmonella Typhimurium DT104 (IZ = 19.3 mm, MIC = 18.75 mg/mL, MBC = 37.5 mg/mL). The MBC/MIC ratio was evaluated to interpret the activity that was bacteriostatic rather than bactericidal. Conversely, weaker antifungal activity was registered, and no antiviral activity was observed for all extracts against Herpes Simplex Virus type 2 and Coxsakievirus B-3 viruses. Cytotoxic activity on VERO cell line results revealed that butanol extract was not toxic, with CC50 value of 1430 µg/mL, while chloroformic extract showed moderate cytotoxicity. Additionally, in silico studies performed proved promising pharmacokinetic and drug-likeness properties of the main compounds from the chloroformic extract. Taken together, this work highlights the potent bioactivity and acceptable drug-likeness of this plant, which supports its further preclinical development.

Glucopyranosylbianthrones from the Algerian Asphodelus tenuifolius: Structural Insights and Biological Evaluation on Melanoma Cancer Cells.

Two new glucopyranosylbianthrones (1 and 2) were isolated from the aerial part of the plant Asphodelus tenuifolius, collected in Southwest Algeria. The 2D structures of 1 and 2 were defined by NMR analysis, HRESIMS data, and comparison with literature data. The comparison of experimental and calculated electronic circular dichroism and NMR data led to characterization of the ( M) and ( P) atropisomeric forms of the glucopyranosylbianthrones, asphodelins (1) and (2), respectively. The in vitro activities of these two metabolites were evaluated in human melanoma A375 cells, and both the compounds inhibited cell proliferation in a concentration-dependent manner, with IC50 values of 20.6 ± 0.8 and 23.2 ± 1.1 µM, respectively. Considering their biological profile, an inverse virtual screening approach was employed to identify and suggest putative anticancer interacting targets.