ABSTRACT
Abstract Plants are the main sources of natural antioxidants in the form of phenolic compounds, which help human beings to deal with oxidative stress, caused by free radical damage. For this reason, the present study was carried out to evaluate the antiproliferative, antioxidant and inhibition of oxidative DNA damage activities of n-butanol extract obtained from aerial parts of Limonium bonduelli. The antioxidant potential was determined using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging and inhibition of lipid peroxidation assay. Antiproliferative activity was evaluated using xCELLigence RTCA instrument on two tumor cell lines; HT-29 (human colon adenocarcinoma) and HeLa (human cervix carcinoma). DNA damage inhibition was evaluated using photolyzing 46966 plasmid. Also, total phenolic and total flavonoid contents were determined using a spectrophotometric method. Total phenolic (343 ± 0.05 µg/mg) and flavonoid (220.5 ± 0.04 µg/mg) were indicated as gallic acid and quercetin equivalents respectively. The extract exhibited significant IC50 values in lipid peroxidation (IC50= 181.18 ± 0.65 µg/mL) and DPPH radical scavenging assays (IC50= 14.92 ± 0.032 µg/mL). The extract also partially protected 46966 plasmid DNA from free radical-mediated oxidative stress in a DNA damage inhibition assay and showed concentration-dependent antiproliferative effects. n-butanol extract of L. bonduelli is a rich source of natural antioxidants and anticancer agents.