Pharmacognostical investigations on Scutellaria yildirimlii M. çiçek & A.E yaprak

The Lamiaceae (Labiateae) family is one of the important families with numerous species that have been used for the treatment of many diseases from past to the present. The genus Scutellaria belongs to the Lamiaceae family and is known as "kaside" in our country and "skullcap" worldwide. Especially, distrubuted in temperate regions and tropical mountains. The Scutellaria genus is commonly found in Europe, North America, East Asia and South America. Scutellaria yildirimlii M. Çiçek & A.E. Yaprak was first described by Mehmet Çiçek and Ahmet Emre Yaprak in the Ayaş region in 2013. In this study, methanol, water, ethyl acetate and petroleum ether extracts were obtained from the aerial parts of Scutellaria yildirimlii. The obtained extracts were analyzed using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to elucidate the plants chemical profile through qualitative analysis. As a result of the HPLC analysis, the compounds scutellarein, apigenin and luteolin-7-O-glucoside were identified in S. yildirimlii. The antioxidant activities of extracts with different polarities obtained through liquid-liquid extraction were evaluated using total antioxidant capacity analysis and ferric reducing antioxidant potential assays. The results showed that all extracts exhibited significantly higher antioxidant activity compared to the control. Based on the antioxidant activity results from the activity analysis, isolation studies were conducted on the ethyl acetate extract, which exhibited the highest activity. For this purpose, column chromatoghraphy and semi-preparative HPLC studies were performed on the ethyl acetate extract, resulting in the isolation of a compound. The structure of the isolated compound was elucidated using 1H-NMR and mass spectormetry methods and it was identified as the known flavonoid baicalin. The antiproliferative effect of the extracts obtained from Scutellaria yildirimlii and the isolated compounds were evaluated using the MTT method, and the highest activity was observed in the isolated compound and the petroleum ether extract. In addition to the MTT analysis, the xCELLience (Real Time Analyzer) device was used to obtain more sensitive, accurate and valid results. The xCELLigence analysis results also showed that, similar to the MTT analysis, the pure compound and the petroleum ether extract exhibited the highest activity. With this study, the phytochemical profile of S. yildirimlii has been elucidated for the first time, and the compound baicalin has been isolated from the aerial parts of the plant for the first time also. The bioactivity studies have shown that S. yildirimlii has a high potential for antioxidant and anticancer activities, highlighting the plant's significance in the literature and from a clinical perspective.