Multifunctional bioactivity of Echinops niveus: Antimicrobial, antioxidant, and cytotoxic evaluation

Medicinal plants remain a vital source of new therapeutic agents, yet many species remain underexplored. Echinops niveus Wall. ex Royle, a member of the Asteraceae family, has not been comprehensively evaluated for multifunctional bioactivity. This study aimed to assess the phytochemical composition, antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-leishmanial, and cytotoxic properties of E. niveus extracts.The aerial parts of E. niveus were extracted with six different solvents: aqueous, methanolic, ethanolic, chloroform, ethyl acetate and n-hexane. They were characterized by phytochemical profiling and FT-IR spectroscopy. The antioxidant activity was measured by DPPH free radical scavenging and reducing power assays. Antimicrobial activity was assessed against Gram-positive bacteria (Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus), Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae) and some fungal strains. The anti-leishmanial activity was assessed by the MTT assay and the cytotoxic activity was explored in the brine shrimp lethality assay and prostate cancer cell lines (PC3). The n-hexane extract showed the strongest DPPH scavenging activity (IC₅₀ = 104.76 ± 1.2 µg/mL). The chloroform extract demonstrated the highest reducing power (73.14 ± 1.47 mg AAE/g) and total antioxidant capacity (63.49 ± 1.46 mg AAE/g). The aqueous extract exhibited the best antibacterial potential against tested strains. Anti-leishmanial activity exceeded 50% inhibition for all extracts, with the aqueous extract showing 64% inhibition. The n-hexane extract was most cytotoxic against brine shrimp (LD₅₀ = 56.15 µg/mL) and PC3 cells.Echinops niveus possesses significant multifunctional pharmacological potential, supporting further investigation into its bioactive compounds and mechanisms as a candidate for drug discovery.