Antimicrobial property and antiproliferative activity of Centaurea babylonica (L.) L. on human carcinomas and cervical cancer cell lines

Introduction and objective Since antiquity, C. babylonica (L.) L. extracts has been used as a remedy for primary health care in traditional medicine. In this study, a total of seven different crude extracts (acetone, chloroform, hexane, ethylacetate, methanol, ethanol and water) from branches and leaves of C. babylonica (L.) L. were prepared to determine antimicrobial and antiproliferative activity against cancer cell lines. Material and Methods MIC assay was used for antimicrobial activity against gram positive and gram negative bacteria, and one yeast. MTT assay was applied to screen the antiproliferative activity of seven extracts, and to determine dose- and time-dependent effects of the aceton extract on A549, PC-3, MCF-7, and HeLa cell lines. Results The aceton extract of C.babylonica (L.) L. showed the best antibacterial activity against Bacillus cereus, P. aeruginosa and C. albicans (MIC: 1.6 mg/mL). GC-MS analyses allowed six compounds to be determined; the main constituents of acetone extract from C. babylonica (L.) L. were diacetone alcohol (53.47 %), 1-dexadecene (10.19 %) and 1-tetradecene (8.67 %). In addition, seven different solvent extracts at 500 µg/mL caused antiproliferative activity between 84% – 88%, compared to control. Dose-dependent effects of the extracts on A549 cells indicated that chloroform, ethyl acetate, and aceton extract were the most effective extracts with the IC 50 values of 9, 33, and 36 µg/mL, respectively. Conclusions The results clearly demonstrate that C. babylonica (L.) L. exhibited a strong antimicrobial effect and antiproliferative activity against cancer cells in vitro. Further studies are required to isolate and characterize the active pure compounds responsible for the antimicrobial and antiproliferative activities.