Macroscopical, Microscopical and Histochemical Analysis of Eryngium karatavicum Iljin Growing on the Territory of South Kazakhstan.

Carrying out macroscopical and microscopical analyses of plants allows determining the species and identifying diagnostic signs of the plant that distinguish the studied object from other related species. Endemic plant species are a specific component of the flora, whose representatives grow in a relatively limited area, represented by a small geographical area. Their diagnostic morphological and anatomical data are insufficiently studied. Such endemic unexplored plant species include Eryngium karatavicum Iljin, which grows in the territory of South Kazakhstan. This article presents the results of macroscopical, microscopical and histochemical analyses of leaves, flowers and stems of Eryngium karatavicum. The results of morphological analysis of Eryngium karatavicum showed that the plant has distinctive features of macroscopical, microscopical and histochemical signs on the upper and lower sides of the leaf, stem, inflorescence, leaves of the wrapper and flower. These results can be used to confirm the authenticity, identification, and standardization of aerial parts of the endemic plant Eryngium karatavicum Iljin.

Phytochemical Profile and Biological Activity of the Ethanolic Extract from the Aerial Part of Crocus alatavicus Regel & Semen Growing Wildly in Southern Kazakhstan.

The composition of the ethanolic extract from the aerial parts of Crocus alatavicus Regel & Semen from southern Kazakhstan spontaneous flora was analyzed together with the determination of its antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral and anticancer activity. The phytochemical profile analysis by high-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-quadrupole-time of flight-mass spectrometry (HPLC/ESI-QTOF-MS) revealed the presence of multiple kaempferol derivatives. High-performance reverse-phase liquid chromatography combined with a photodiode-array detection (RP-HPLC/PDA) found that kaempferol 3-O-dihexoside and kaempferol 3-O-acyltetrahexoside accounted for 70.5% of the kaempferol derivatives. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of the extract for all the tested reference microorganisms were high, reaching 10 mg/mL for yeasts and 20 mg/mL for bacteria. In contrast, antiviral activity was observed at 2 mg/mL, resulting in the inhibition of the HSV-1-induced cytopathic effect and the reduction in virus infectious titer by 1.96 log, as well as the viral load by 0.85 log. Among the tested prostate cancer cell lines, significant cytotoxic activity of the extract was noted only on the LNCaP cell line, with an IC50 value of 1.95 mg/mL. The LNCaP cell line treated with 2 mg/mL of the extract showed a noticeably reduced number of spindle-shaped cells with longer cellular projections, a significant increase in the peak corresponding to the population of apoptotic cells in the sub-G1 phase and a decreased intracellular glutathione (GSH) level, suggesting the prooxidative properties of the extract. The obtained data provide novel information about the flavonoids present in the aerial part of C. alatavicus and suggest its potential application as a source of the compounds active against HSV-1 and metastatic, androgen-sensitive prostate cancer.