In Vitro Antioxidant and Cytotoxic Activities of Arnebia benthamii (Wall ex. G. Don): A Critically Endangered Medicinal Plant of Kashmir Valley

Arnebia benthamii is a major ingredient of the commercial drug available under the name Gaozaban, which has antibacterial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, and wound-healing properties. In the present study, in vitro antioxidant and anticancer activity of different extracts of Arnebia benthamii were investigated. Antioxidant potential of plant extracts was evaluated by means of total phenolics, DPPH, reducing power, microsomal lipid peroxidation, and hydroxyl radical scavenging activity. The highest phenolic content (TPC) of 780 mg GAE/g was observed in ethyl acetate, while the lowest TPC of 462 mg GAE/g was achieved in aqueous extract. At concentration of 700 µg/mL, DPPH radical scavenging activity was found to be highest in ethyl acetate extract (87.99%) and lowest in aqueous extract (73%). The reducing power of extracts increased in a concentration dependent manner. We also observed its inhibition on Fe(2+)/ascorbic acid-induced lipid peroxidation (LPO) on rat liver microsomes in vitro. In addition, Arnebia benthamii extracts exhibited antioxidant effects on Calf thymus DNA damage induced by Fenton reaction. Cytotoxicity of the extracts (10–100 µg/mL) was tested on five human cancer cell lines (lung, prostate, leukemia, colon, and pancreatic cell lines) using the Sulphorhodamine B assay.