Nehal Mohamed Elwan

Background: Cancer diseases and microbial resistance are serious health
disorders associated with oxidative stress and infectious diseases. Their
risks can be reducing via using polyphenols-rich plants. Methodology:
Different solvent extracts from two Cestrum species (Cestrum nocturnum
and Cestrum elegans) were evaluated for their biological and chemical
activities. Also, the chemical profiles of the most promising extracts were
investigated via high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)‐fingerprint
analyses. Results: The tested extracts showed weak to moderate
cytotoxicity against Vero cell line with IC50 values ranged from 133.67 μg/
ml to 57.634 μg/ml. The only noncytotoxic extractive fraction was the
dichloromethane extract of C. elegans leaves with an IC50 value of 204.732
μg/ml, while the most toxic extract was the ethyl acetate extract of C.
elegans flowers with an IC50 value of 19.22 μg/ml. The antimicrobial activity
results revealed that the n‐BuOH extract of C. nocturnum was the most
active against four tested microbial strains with inhibition zones (10–13 mm).
Also, the water and n‐BuOH extracts of C. elegans leave exhibited moderate
activities with inhibition zones (7–9 mm), while for C. elegans flowers both
of water and methanol extracts showed strong activities (9–14 mm). In the
2,2’‐diphenyl‐1‐picrylhydrazyl assay, the most active fraction was EtOAc with
IC50 values of 100.52 μg/ml and 64.40 μg/ml for C. elegans leaves and flowers
respectively, while for C. nocturnum the most active fraction was methanol
with an IC50 value of 161.16 μg/ml, all relative to 7.60 μg/ml of ascorbic acid.
HPLC‐fingerprint analyses revealed that the major identified compounds in
the ethyl acetate extract of C. elegans flowers are caffeic acid, coumaric acid,
vanillin, and rutin, while for the n‐butanol extract of C. nocturnum leaves are
coumaric acid and vanillin. Conclusion: The obtained results revealed that
the two species can be used as natural sources of antioxidant compounds
with low cytotoxic effect on the mammalian cell line.

Crystals of the title compound, C(23)H(17)ClN(4)O(2).2.5H(2)O, contain channels filled with highly disordered water molecules. The best structure refinement was obtained by removing the solvent contribution from the intensity data and refining against a solvent-free model. The central six-membered ring of the quinolizine molecule has a slightly distorted screw-boat conformation.