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. 2021 Feb 9;26(4):904.
doi: 10.3390/molecules26040904.

Two Ecdysteroids Isolated from Micropropagated Lychnis flos-cuculi and the Biological Activity of Plant Material

Michał P Maliński  1 , Jaromir Budzianowski  1 , Małgorzata Kikowska  1 , Monika Derda  2 , Marcelina M Jaworska  3 , Dariusz T Mlynarczyk  4 , Marta Szukalska  5 , Ewa Florek  5 , Barbara Thiem  1
Affiliations

Two Ecdysteroids Isolated from Micropropagated Lychnis flos-cuculi and the Biological Activity of Plant Material

Michał P Maliński et al. Molecules. .

Abstract

Genetically uniform plant material, derived from Lychnis flos-cuculi propagated in vitro, was used for the isolation of 20-hydroxyecdysone and polypodine B and subjected to an evaluation of the antifungal and antiamoebic activity. The activity of 80% aqueous methanolic extracts, their fractions, and isolated ecdysteroids were studied against pathogenic Acanthamoeba castellani. Additionally, a Microtox® acute toxicity assay was performed. It was found that an 80% methanolic fraction of root extract exerts the most potent amoebicidal activity at IC50 of 0.06 mg/mL at the 3rd day of treatment. Both ecdysteroids show comparable activity at IC50 of 0.07 mg/mL. The acute toxicity of 80% fractions at similar concentrations is significantly higher than that of 40% fractions. Crude extracts exhibited moderate antifungal activity, with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) within the range of 1.25-2.5 mg/mL. To the best of our knowledge, the present report is the first to show the biological activity of L. flos-cuculi in terms of the antifungal and antiamoebic activities and acute toxicity. It is also the first isolation of the main ecdysteroids from L. flos-cuculi micropropagated, ecdysteroid-rich plant material.

Keywords: 20-hydroxyecdysone; Acanthamoeba; Microtox; Ragged Robin; antifungal activity; plant tissue culture; polypodine B.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Chemical structure of 20-hydroxyecdysone (R=H, compound 1) and polypodine B (R=OH, compound 2), the major ecdysteroid constituents of Lychnis flos-cuculi.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The effect of unfractionated 80% aqueous methanolic extracts from the herb and roots of Lychnis flos-cuculi on the inhibition of Acanthamoeba trophozoite proliferation in the culture medium.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The effect of the 40% and 80% methanolic fractions of extract from the roots of Lychnis flos-cuculi on the inhibition of Acanthamoeba trophozoite proliferation in the culture medium.
Figure 4
Figure 4
The effect of the 40% and 80% methanolic fractions of extract from the flowering herb of Lychnis flos-cuculi on the inhibition of Acanthamoeba trophozoite proliferation in the culture medium.
Figure 5
Figure 5
The effect of the 40% and 80% methanolic fractions of Lychnis flos-cuculi callus extract on the inhibition of Acanthamoeba trophozoite proliferation in the culture medium.
Figure 6
Figure 6
The effect of 20-hydroxyecdysone and polypodine B isolated from Lychnis flos-cuculi L. on the inhibition of Acanthamoeba trophozoite proliferation in the culture medium.
Figure 7
Figure 7
The effect of nystatin used as a positive control on the inhibition of Acanthamoeba trophozoite proliferation in the culture medium.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Comparison of the acute toxicity of 40% and 80% aqueous methanolic fractions from Lychnis flos-cuculi extracts and isolated ecdysteroids after 5 and 15 min, measured using the Microtox assay.
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