In-vitro Evaluation of Anti-microbial and Cytotoxic Activity of Artemisia judaica Leaves and Stem Extracts via Induction of Caspase Dependent Apoptosis

Medicinal plants and herbs are commonly used in the world to treat various human disorders. Artemisia judaica is one of these herbal species that is commonly used in medicine due to its contents of many bioactive compounds such as; flavonoids, lactones, essential oil and sesqui-terpenoids. It was used in many traditional medicines as an anthelmintic, antispasmodic, anti-rheumatic, and antibacterial agent. In recent years, anti-bacterial and anti-cancer activity of medicinal herbs are highly investigated. The present study is focused on the anti-microbial and cytotoxic effect of methanolic extract of Artemisia judaica leaves and stem. The antimicrobial assay was done on different gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria and it was revealed that leaves and stem extracts possess high and moderate activity against Staphylococcus aureus (MIC 312.5 mu g/ml and 625 mu g/ml) and Proteus vulgaris (MIC 312.5,ug/m1 and 1250pg/ml) for leaves and stem, respectively. Extracts were screened against HepG2, HCT-116, MCF-7, A-549 and MRC-5 cancer cells and it was found that both extracts were active against all cell lines with highest selectivity and cytotoxic activity observed against HepG2 cells (IC50 = 3.38 and 6.84 mu g/ml, for leaves and stem respectively). Further mechanistic studies on HepG2 cells showed that both extracts resulted in S-phase arrest and induced apoptosis via activation of caspase-3, p53 and Bax