An in vitro study of the antioxidant, metal chelating, anti-inflammatory, and antiproliferative properties of Acalypha indica L. – An efficacious weedy medicinal plant

Abstract

Acalypha indica L., an Indian medicinal plant with remarkable ethno-medicinal significance, possesses promising antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer features. Extracts obtained from the aerial parts of this plant by utilising four different solvents exhibited a great deal of variation in the total phenolics and flavonoid content, in addition to considerable differences in the in vitro experimental systems in terms of the free radical scavenging ability. The methanolic extract showed the highest metal-chelating ability, with 85.82±0.38% and 72.51±3.27% for Fe²⁺ and Cu²⁺ ions, respectively, at the highest extract concentrations used. The methanolic extract also exhibited the greatest Nitric oxide (NO) inhibitory potential in Lipopolysaccharide-induced macrophages, demonstrating its anti-inflammatory potential. The ethyl acetate extract was potent in inhibiting MCF-7, HeLa, K562, and AGS cancer cells, with IC₅₀ values of 60.05±1.84, 49.04±1.60, 19.46±4.70, and 29.39±2.90 µg/mL, respectively. Overall, these results provide foundational validation of the plant's therapeutic benefits in traditional systems and also recommend that this weedy plant can be a good candidate for the discovery and development of bioactive molecules in future.