Hexane fraction of roots and ethyl acetate fraction of fruits of Astrodaucus persicus extract showed potent antimalarial and cytotoxic activities

Background and objectives: Aerial parts and roots of Astrodaucus persicus (Apiaceae), a native plant of Iran, were investigated. The existence of compounds with 1, 3-benzodiaxole structures has been confirmed in roots of this plant and different benzodioxole compounds have shown antimalarial and cytotoxic activities; therefore, present study has evaluated the antimalarial and cytotoxic effects of various extracts of fruits and roots fractions of A. persicus. Methods: Ripe fruits and roots of A. persicuswere extracted with 80% methanol and fractionated by different solvents. Antimalarial activity of fractions against Plasmodium berghei was investigated in mice and parasitemia and suppression percentage were reported for each fraction. Cytotoxicity of fractions were determined by MTT assay against human breast adenocarcinoma; MCF-7, colorectal carcinoma; SW-480 and normal L-929 cell lines.  Results: Hexane fraction of roots extract and ethyl acetate fraction of fruits extract at 500 mg/kg/day were the most active fractions exhibiting 73.3 and 72.3 % suppression on the fourth day, respectively. Hexane fraction of roots extract showed potent anticancer activities against breast (IC50 of 0.01 µg/mL) and colorectal (IC50 of 0.36 µg/mL) cancer cell lines compared to doxorubicin with IC50 of 0.35 and 2.50 µg/mL, respectively. Cytotoxic activity of RHE on normal cell lines was almost equal to doxorubicin. Conclusion: The results of this study have shown potent antimalarial and cytotoxic effects of hexane roots fraction of Astrodaucus persicus extract. On the other hand, ethyl acetate fraction of fruits extract showed antimalarial activity with no cytotoxicity.