Phytochemical Composition and Evaluation of Marine Algal Sargassum polycystum for Antioxidant Activity and In Vitro Cytotoxicity on Hela Cells

Cancer is one of the diseases that is life-threatening and health-threatening in the world as well as in Indonesia. According to data obtained from the Information Center on human papiloma virus (HPV) and Cancer in 2017 in Indonesia, breast cancer and cervical cancer rank the first and second most cancer incidents suffered by women respectively, with the number of cases 39.9 and 17.0 per 100,000 population.1 The data showed that the prevalence of cervical cancer is quite high in Indonesia. Various attempts have been made to cure cancer which include surgical methods, chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, radiotherapy or combinations of these methods. However, studies conducted by Lage (2003) and Aziz (2006) revealed that some of the previously mentioned healing methods not only cause side effects to occur, but also show resistance to cancer cells, so that they are no longer effective to be applied.2,3 One of the marine biota that has fairly high diversity and shows anticancer activity is marine macroalga. Korean researchers reported that the cell wall of brown macroalgae Fucus vesiculosus contains sulphate polysaccharide compound, fucoidan, that shows anticancer activity by inducing apoptosis in HCT116 colorectal cancer cells.4 In 2013, researchers from China revealed that extract of water macroalgae Sargassum oligocystum inhibited the leukemia cancer cells proliferation, whereas heterofucan compounds isolated from brown macroalga Sargassum filipendula showed antiproliferative effects on cervical and prostate cancer cells.5 Michanek (1979) and Noda et al. (1990) reported that Sargassum sp. is an anticancer macroalga species that is mostly found in Indonesian marine.6,7 The anticancer potential of macroalga Sargassum sp. , has inspired us to conduct studies that aim to develop Indonesian marine natural products that focus on the exploration of macroalga Sargassum polycystum which is widely available in the coastal areas of Indonesia, as novel potential anticancer. Recently in 2019, we have completed cytotoxicity evaluation of S. polycystum extracts originated from Lengkuas beach, Tanjung Pandan, Belitung, Indonesia, which showed a strong cytotoxicity against colon HCT-116 and lung-A549 cells.8 In this current work, the specific objectives which will be achieved is to obtain S. polycystum extract using maceration and extraction techniques; to perform phytochemical analysis and thin layer chromatography (TLC) of S.polycystum extract; to ABSTRACT Introduction: Sargassum polycystum is one of marine algal which has a potent antioxidant anticancer activities. This research aims to investigate phytochemical composition, antioxidant activity, and in vitro cytotoxicity of marine algal Sargassum polycystum on cervical HeLa cancer. Methods: Sargassum polycystum collected from Dompu beach, Lombok, Nusa Tenggara Barat Province, Indonesia, were extracted into organic solvent of n-hexane, ethylacetate, chloroform and ethanol, respectively. Subsequently, Sargassum polycystum extracts were applied for Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) analysis, phytochemistry test, total phenolic and total flavonoid contents, as well as for antioxidant activity test by DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) method, and in vitro cytotoxicity evaluation on HeLa cells by MTT (3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay. Results: Phytochemical analysis of S. polycystum extracts are positive for metabolites of flavonoid, steroid, tannin and glycoside. TLC analysis revealed that S. polycystum extracts containing four phytochemical components. Ethylacetate extract of S. polycystum showed the highest total phenolic content, and exhibited greater antioxidant activity than ethanol extract. Total phenolic and total flavonoid content in ethylacetate extract are 548.61 μg/mL and 40.06 μg /mL, respectively. Ethylacetate extract of S. polycystum with IC50 value of 298.3 μg/mL is assigned to have a weak antioxidant activity against DPPH free radical. The results indicate that antioxidant activity of ethylacetate extracts of S. polycystum is directly correlated with its total phenolic and flavonoid content. Moreover, S. polycystum extracts demonstrated a strong anticancer activity on cervical HeLa cells with IC50 ranging from 38.3 μg/mL to 112.8 μg/mL. Conclusion: This work confirmed that S.polycystum are promising natural antioxidant and anti-cervical cancer agents.