Chemical constituents and antioxidative, anti-inflammatory and anti-proliferative activities of wild and cultivated Corydalis saxicola

The study aimed to investigate the similarities and differences in the chemical constituents and biological activities between wild and cultivated Corydalis saxicola Bunting. Corydalis saxicola is a rare traditional medicine and is mainly distributed in southwest China. The plant is used for treating inflammation, pain, tumors, and other diseases. The extractive process was optimized and chemical compositions, total alkaloid content, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-proliferative activities of wild and cultivated C. saxicola were compared in this experiment. The extraction condition was optimized by response surface methodology as follows: methanol concentration 83 %, liquid to solid ratio of 60:1 mL/g, and ultrasonic time 31 min. Then, high-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (HPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS) was used to identify the overall chemical compositions of the extracts and seventy-eight compounds including sixty-five alkaloids, six flavonoids, and seven other compounds were tentatively identified from C. saxicola using the literatures; among them, wild samples had seventy compounds and cultivated samples had forty-six compounds. The wild C. saxicola had higher total alkaloid content by colorimetry and showed more active inhibition of nitric oxide and pro-inflammatory cytokines (interleukin-1β, interleukin-6, and tumor necrosis factor-α) in RAW264.7 macrophage cells stimulated by lipopolysaccharide, and also showed a stronger inhibition of growth of HepG2 cells, whereas cultivated C. saxicola had better antioxidant activities in the 2,2-diphenylpicrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2′-(3-ethyl-6-sulfobenzothiazolinone) azine (ABTS), and hydroxyl radical scavenging experiments. This study compared chemical constituents and bioactivities of wild and cultivated medicinal materials to provide reference for further development and utilization of this medicinal plant.