Phenolic Composition, in Vitro Antioxidant and Anticancer Activities of Hypericum Japonicum Thunb and Scoparia Dulcis L

Background and Aim: Hypericum Japonicum Thunb (HT) and Scoparia Dulcis L (SL) have received considerable attentions as natural products for their applications with health benefits. This study aimed at investigating the in vitro antioxidant and HepG2 (human liver cancer cell line) and A549 (adenocarcinomic human alveolar basal epithelial cell line) growth inhibitory effect of the ethanol extracts from the HT and SL.Materials and Methods: Total phenolic and flavonoid contents were calculated. Antioxidant effect was determined by measuring hydroxyl radical scavenging activity, 2,2’azinobis (3ethylbenzthiazoline6sulfonic acid) (ABTS+) and 2,2’diphenyl1picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activities. Phenolic compounds were identified by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method. The activity of the apoptotic proteins Bcl2, Bad, Bax, Caspase3, 9 were measured by Western blotting.Results: The rosmarinic acid and chlorogenic acid were isolated from the HT. The rutin and rosmarinic acid were newly identified compounds from the SL. Moreover, results revealed that the HT extract possesses the higher levels of ABTS+, DPPH and hydroxyl radical scavenging capacity with IC50 of 45.13±0.89, 89.29±0.78 and 38.32±0.17µg/mL, respectively. The HT and SL extracts induce HepG2 growth inhibition with IC50: respectively 245.755 ± 2.23b µg/mL and 553.32 ± 14.46a µg/mL and induce A549 growth inhibition with IC50 of the HT and SL: 314.15± 5.96b µg/mL and 446.35± 0.9a µg/mL at 48 hr, respectively. The HT and SL extracts activated the apoptotic proteins including bcl2, bad, caspase3, 9 in HepG2; p53, caspase3, bax and bad in A549.Conclusion: The findings strongly suggest that the HT and SL extracts could be excellent sources of antioxidants as functional food ingredients in cancer prevention and treatment