Background Himalayan Columbine (Aquilegia pubiflora Wall. Ex Royle) is a medicinal plant and have been used as traditional treatments for various human diseases including skin burns, jaundice, hepatitis, wound healing, cardiovascular and circulatory diseases. Till now there is no report available on phytochemical investigation of Himalayan Columbine and to the best of our knowledge, through present study we have reported for the first time, the phytochemical analysis and pharmacological potentials of different leaf extracts of Aquilegia pubiflora. Methods Four types of extracts were prepared using solvent of different polarities (Distilled water AP(DW), Methanol AP(M), Ethanol AP(E) and Ethyl acetate AP(EA)), and were evaluated to determine the best candidate for potent bioactivity. Phytochemical constituents in prepared extracts were quantified through HPLC analysis. Subsequently, all four types of leaf extracts were then evaluated for their potential bioactivities including antimicrobial, protein kinase inhibition, anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, antioxidant, anti-Alzheimer, anti-aging and cytotoxic effect. Results HPLC analysis demonstrated the presence of dvitexin, isovitexin, orientin, isoorientin, ferulic acid, sinapic acid and chlorogenic acid in varied proportions in all plant extracts. Antimicrobial studies showed that, K. pneumonia was found to be most susceptible to inhibition zones of 11.2 +/- 0.47, 13.9 +/- 0.33, 12.7 +/- 0.41, and 13.5 +/- 0.62 measured at 5 mg/mL for AP(DW), AP(M), AP(E) and AP(EA) respectively. A. niger was the most susceptible strain in case of AP(DW) with the highest zone of inhibition 14.3 +/- 0.32, 13.2 +/- 0.41 in case of AP(M), 13.7 +/- 0.39 for AP(E) while 15.4 +/- 0.43 zone of inhibition was recorded in case of AP(EA) at 5 mg/mL. The highest antioxidant activity of 92.6 +/- 1.8 mu gAAE/mg, 89.2 +/- 2.4 mu gAAE/mg, 277.5 +/- 2.9 mu M, 289.9 +/- 1.74 mu M for TAC, TRP, ABTS and FRAP, respectively, was shown by AP(E). AP(M), AP(E) and AP(EA) extracts showed a significant % cell inhibition (above 40%) against HepG2 cells. The highest anti-inflammatory of the samples was shown by AP(E) (52.5 +/- 1.1) against sPLA2, (41.2 +/- 0.8) against 15-LOX, followed by (38.5 +/- 1.5) and (32.4 +/- 0.8) against COX-1 and COX-2, respectively. Conclusions Strong antimicrobial, Protein Kinase potency and considerable alpha-glucosidase, alpha-amylase, and cytotoxic potential were exhibited by plant samples. Significant anti-Alzheimer, anti-inflammatory, anti-aging, and kinase inhibitory potential of each plant sample thus aware us for further detailed research to determine novel drugs.
