Abstract
Plant-derived substances have been considered as important sources of drugs, including antineoplasic agents. Babassu mesocarp is popularly used in Brazil as a food additive, and in popular medicine against several conditions, such as inflammations, menstrual pains and leukaemia. From babassu Orbignya speciosa (Mart.) Barb. Rodr. [Arecaceae (Palmae)] epicarp/mesocarp, an ethanol extract was prepared and named OSEME, which was tested on the viability,morphology and metabolism of several cell lines, such as the leukaemic cell lines, HL-60, K562 and the latter multidrug resistant counterpart K562-Lucena 1, the human breast cancer cell line MCF-7, the mouse fibroblast cell line 3T3-L1 and fresh human lymphocytes. OSEME promoted a dose-dependent decrease on the viability of all cells. This effect was much more pronounced on the tumoral cell lines than on non-tumoral cells, a phenomenon revealed by the dose of OSEME which promotes half of maximal effect (ID50). The decrease on viability was followed by shrinkage of cells, alteration on their morphology, and a markedly nuclear condensation. Curiously, stimulation of 6-phosphofructokinase activity (6.6-times) was observed on HL-60 cells, treated with OSEME, when compared to control treated with ethanol (vehicle). These results support evidences to suggest OSEME as a promising source of novel antineoplasic agents.
Highlights
Babassu (Orbignya martiana, O. oleifera or O. speciosa) is a native palm tree from the North, Northeast and Central regions of Brazil, occurring mainly in the Maranhão, Piaui, Tocantins and Goias States in extensiveThe vast diversity of the Brazilian flora stimulates the exploitation of plant extracts with medical and biological activities
The aim of the present study is to evaluate the effects of babassu extract on the viability, morphology and metabolism of leukaemic cell lines in culture, as well as on other tumor cells, non-tumor immortalized cell lines and freshly isolated human lymphocytes
The magnitude of the inhibitory effect varied according with cell type. (ID50) determinations (Table I) demonstrate that OSEME was more effective in inhibiting HL-60 cells
Summary
The vast diversity of the Brazilian flora stimulates the exploitation of plant extracts with medical and biological activities. In this regard, studies of plant compounds with antioxidant activity has attracted great interest in the last years, due to the fact that free radicals have been clearly associated to pathological process, including cancer. Some authors have associated the prevention of cancer with the ingestion of plant extracts enriched in natural antioxidants (for a review see Ferguson and Philpott 2007). We have recently described that babassu extracts present antioxidant activity acting as free radical scavengers, evaluated by means of reduction of 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and protecting yeast cells from lethal oxidative stress (Silva et al 2005). We show a cytotoxic effect of babassu extract, which is indicative of a possible usage of babassu as a source of antineoplasic compounds with low damage to normal cells
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