Chemical composition and evaluation of the antibacterial and anti-migratory potentials of Anthemis maritima L. growing in North Africa

Anthemis maritima, endemic to Libya, holds promise for its medicinal properties, including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antibacterial, and wound-healing activities. This work aims to explore the phytoconstituents present in methanolic extracts of Anthemis maritima aerial parts using LC-ESI-MS and assess their in vitro cytotoxic, anti-migratory, and antibacterial activities. Phytochemical analysis indicated the presence of 44 compounds, representing 11.77% of total peaks in the LC-chromatogram, including flavonoids, coumarins, sterols, and phenolic acids. Among the identified compounds, flavonoids represented 11.58%, of which 5,3’-dihydroxy-6,7,4’-trimethoxyflavone, cyanidin 3,5-diglucoside, astragalin, and kaempferol 3-O-rutinoside were the most abundant flavonoids in the plant extract. Cytotoxic assay showed marked activity of A. maritima extract, especially at a dose of 100 µg/mL, against A549 and Hep-2 cancer cell lines (IC50s = 49.49 and 67.93 µg/mL, respectively), while weaker activity was observed against HepG2 (IC50=107.95 µg/mL). Anti-migratory effects against A549, Hep-2, and HepG2 cancer cells were evaluated using a sub-cytotoxic dose of 50 µg/mL, with A549 and Hep-2 showing reduced rates of cell migration after 96 h of treatment (0.00535 and 0.00462 mm/hr, respectively), while HepG2 showed reduced rates in a 48-hour experiment (0.0062 mm/hr), which indicates that the extract decreases cancer metastasis. The plant extract exhibited antimicrobial efficacy against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, showing significant activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa (MIC, 1.6 µg/mL) in comparison to levofloxacin (MIC, 0.93 µg/mL). The selected compounds, identified via LC-ESI-MS, were subjected to docking studies to assess the binding scores and modes of these compounds compared to a reference standard. The study found that compounds such as cyanidin 3,5-diglucoside, kaempferol 3-O-rutinoside, and astragalin showed superior binding scores with the S. aureus gyrase-DNA complex compared to the reference ligand, indicating their potential as robust antibacterial agents. Anthemis maritima exhibits promising anti-migratory and antimicrobial properties. The promising microbial inhibition and in silico binding interactions of the plant constituents suggested that Anthemis maritima could be developed further for therapeutic use against resistant bacterial strains.