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. 2024 Feb 2;13(2):192. doi: 10.3390/antiox13020192

Table 3.

Potential health applications of Cytisus plant extracts.

Activity Assay Model Extracts Effect/Methodology Reference
Antioxidant In vitro
  • -

    Aerial part C. scoparius

  • -

    Ethanol-water (70:30 v/v) extracts

 IC50 activity:
1.5 µg/mL for DPPH radicals;
116 µg/mL nitric oxide;
4.7 µg/mL superoxide anion;
27.0 μg/mL hydroxyl radical;
potent antioxidant reducing power		 [24]
In vitro
  • -

    Aerial part C. triflorus

  • -

    Hydroalcoholic extracts EtOH:H2O (80:20) extracts

 DPPH radicals scavenging (IC50):
19.17 and 77.8 µg/mL for leaf and stem, respectively
 [68]
In vitro
  • -

    Aerial part C. villosus

  • -

    Hydroalcoholic extracts partitioned with CHCl3, EtOAc and n-BuOH

 DPPH radicals scavenging (IC50):
459 µg/mL CHCl3 extract; 425 µg/mL EtOAc extracts; 164 µg/mL for n-BuOH		 [26]
In vitro
  • -

    Aerial part C. triflorus

  • -

    Acetone extract

 DPPH radicals scavenging (IC50):
792 ± 10 µg/mL		 [46]
In vitro
  • -

    C. villosus aerial parts

  • -

    Ethyl acetate and aqueous extracts

 DPPH radicals scavenging (IC50):
59 ± 2 µg/mL for aqueous extracts and 31 ± 2 for ethyl acetate extracts		 [9]
In vitro
  • -

    Aerial parts C. scoparius

  • -

    Ethyl lactate extracts

  • -

    Methanol extracts

Greater scavenging of DPPH radicals by ethyl lactate:water (65:35 (v:v)) extracts (approx. 6 mM Trolox/g plant) [8]
Rat liver microsomal preparation
  • -

    Aerial part C. scoparius

  • -

    Ethanol:water (70:30 v/v) extracts

 Protection in lipid peroxidation at 104 µg/mL [24]
Rat liver
  • -

    Aerial part C. scoparius

  • -

    Ethanol:water (70:30 v/v) extracts

 Protects liver from oxidative stress at 250 and 500 mg/kg for 7 days [63]
Rat
  • -

    Aerial part C. scoparius

  • -

    60% methanolic extracts

 Anti-stress at 125 and 250 mg/kg for 21 days [64]
Human epidermis
  • -

    Branches C. scoparius

  • -

    Acetone:water and acidified ethanolic extracts

 Skin protection against oxidative damage. In vitro assays with the reconstituted human epidermis, topical use at 1% [12]
Human hepatocytes
  • -

    Aerial part C. villosus

  • -

    Hydroalcoholic extracts partitioned with CHCl3, EtOAc and n-BuOH

 Inhibition of intracellular oxidative stress in HepG2 cells at 250 µg/mL [26]
Cytotoxicity
and
Antiproliferative activity		 Human cancer cells
  • -

    Whole C. scoparius

  • -

    Methanolic extracts

 Human cervical cancer cell line (HeLa); MTT assay, cell cycle analysis, and topoisomerase II inhibitory activity
IC50 value of 4.5 μg/mL; cell arrest at a sub-G phase; promote apoptosis; excellent human topoisomerase II inhibitor at 10 μg/mL		 [67]
Human cancer cells
  • -

    Aerial part C. villosus

  • -

    Hydroalcoholic extracts partitioned with CHCl3, EtOAc and n-BuOH

 No toxicity at 100 µM against human cancer cell lines (SK-MEL, KB, BT-549, and SKOV-3) and two noncancerous kidney cell lines (LLC-PK1 and Vero) [26]
Human cancer cells
  • -

    C. villosus aerial parts

  • -

    Ethyl acetate and aqueous extracts

 Growth inhibition of the three different cell lines of breast (T47D, MCF7) and colon (HCT-116) cancers
Ethyl acetate extract exhibited higher activity (IC50 values of 1.57 ± 0.06 mg/mL, 2.2 ± 0.1 mg/mL, and 3.2 ± 0.2 mg/mL for T47D, MCF7, and HCT-116 cells)		 [9]
Anti-Inflammatory Rat
  • -

    Leaves C. triflorus

  • -

    Hydroalcoholic EtOH-in Eth-H2O (80:20) extracts

 Anti-inflammatory agent at 200 and 400 mg/kg body weight [68]
Mousemacrophages
  • -

    Aerial part C. villosus

  • -

    Hydroalcoholic extracts partitioned with EtOAc and n-BuOH

 EtOAc and n-ButOH extracts showed inhibition of iNOS with IC50 of 48 and 90 µg/mL, respectively. [26]
Hepatoprotective Rats
  • -

    Aerial part C. scoparius

  • -

    Ethanol:water (70:30 v:v) extracts

 Increase levels of SOD, GS, and GRD parameters in carbon tetrachloride treated wistar albino rats at 250 and 500 mg/kg/day for 7 days [63]
Rabbits
  • -

    Whole C. roseum

  • -

    Aqueous extract

 Oral administration of extracts at 400 mg/kg/day for 14 days. Reduction in ALP, ALT, AST levels and total bilirubin in carbon tetrachloride treated rabbits [74]
Antimicrobial and Antiprotozoal Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Pasture llamultacida
  • -

    Whole C. roseum

  • -

    Aqueous and n-BuOH extracts

 Anti-bacterial activity by disc diffusion method (30 µg/disc): 13.8 ± 0.18 (maximum concentration) [74]
Trypanosoma bruces
  • -

    Aerial part C. villosus

  • -

    Hydroalcoholic extracts partitioned with EtOAc and n-BuOH

 Antitrypanosomal activity (IC50): 19.48 µg/mL for EtOH extract; 7.99 µg/mL for n-BuOH [26]
Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Pseud omonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli
  • -

    Aerial part C. triflorus

  • -

    Acetone extract

 Minimal inhibitory
concentration (MIC) assays
S. aureus: 0.26 ± 0.09; B. subtilis: 0.42 ± 0.18; P. aeruginosa: 1.67 ± 0.72; E. coli: 1.04 ± 0.36 (values in mg/mL)		 [46]
Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus spp., Escherichia coli, Candida albicans
  • -

    Aerial parts C. scoparius

  • -

    Ethyl lactate:water (65:35 v:v) extracts

 MIC assayExtract exerted a positive antibacterial action [8]
Staphylococcus aureus
  • -

    C. striatus

Act as antibiotic adjuvants [78]
Staphylococcus epidermidis, Escherichia coli, P seudomonas aeruginosa, Candida glabrata
  • -

    C. villosus aerial parts

  • -

    Ethyl acetate and aqueous extracts

 Selective and potent antimicrobial activities against the Gram-positive bacterium (S. epidermidis)
IC50 of 186 ± 9 μg/mL for aqueous extracts and 92 ± 3 μg/mL for ethyl acetate		 [9]
Wound healing Rats
  • -

    Aerial part C. triflorus

  • -

    Acetone extract

 Excision wound healing model for 14 days; results indicate re-epithelialization and good healing potential using 5% of the extract [46]

SK-MEL: Human malignant melanoma; KB: Human epidermoid carcinoma; BT-549: Human ductal carcinoma; SK-OV-3: Human ovary carcinoma; LLC-PK-1: Pig kidney epithelial cells; Vero: African green monkey kidney cell line.