Abstract
BackgroundGreat biodiversity is a highlight of Brazilian flora. In contrast, the therapeutic potentialities of most species used in folk medicine remain unknown. Several of these species are commonly used to treat cancer. In this study, we investigated the cytotoxic activity of 18 plants from 16 families that are found in the northeast region of Brazil.MethodsThe following species were studied: Byrsonima sericea DC. (Malpighiaceae), Cupania impressinervia Acev. Rodr. var. (revoluta) Radlk (Sapindaceae), Duranta repens Linn. (Verbenaceae), Helicostylis tomentosa (Poepp. & Endl) Rusby (Moraceae), Himatanthus bracteatus (A.DC.) Woodson (Apocynaceae), Ipomoea purga (Wender.) Hayne (Convolvulaceae), Ixora coccinea Linn. (Rubiaceae), Mabea piriri Aubl. (Euphorbiaceae), Miconia minutiflora (Melastomataceae), Momordica charantia L. (Cucurbitaceae), Ocotea glomerata (Nees) Mez (Lauraceae), Ocotea longifolia Kunth (Oreodaphne opifera Mart. Nees) (Lauraceae), Pavonia fruticosa (Mill.) Fawc. & Rendle (Malvaceae), Psychotria capitata Ruiz & Pav. (Rubiaceae), Schefflera morototoni (Aubl.) Maguire, Steyerm. & Frodin (Araliaceae), Solanum paludosum Moric. (Solanaceae), Xylopia frutescens Aubl. (Annonaceae) and Zanthoxylum rhoifolium Lam. (Rutaceae). Their dried leaves, stems, flowers or fruits were submitted to different solvent extractions, resulting in 55 extracts. After incubating for 72 h, the cytotoxicity of each extract was tested against tumor cell lines using the alamar blue assay.ResultsThe B. sericea, D. repens, H. bracteatus, I. purga, I. coccinea, M. piriri, O. longifolia and P. capitata extracts demonstrated the most potent cytotoxic activity. The chloroform soluble fractions of D. repens flowers and the hexane extract of I. coccinea flowers led to the isolation of quercetin and a mixture of α- and β-amyrin, respectively, and quercetin showed moderate cytotoxic activity.ConclusionThe B. sericea, D. repens, H. bracteatus, I. purga, I. coccinea, M. piriri, O. longifolia and P. capitata plants were identified as having potent cytotoxic effects. Further investigations are required to determine the mechanisms of cytotoxicity exhibited and their in vivo activities. This work reinforces the need to understand the therapeutics potentialities of Brazilian medicinal plants.
Highlights
Great biodiversity is a highlight of Brazilian flora
Concentration-response curves were generated and 50 % inhibitory concentration (IC50) values were calculated against four tumor cell lines (B16-F10, HepG2, K562 and HL-60) and against one non-tumor cells (PBMC) for the extracts that caused more than 75 % cell growth inhibition (Table 3)
The chloroform soluble fractions of D. repens flowers and the hexane extract I. coccinea flowers isolated quercetin and the mixture of α- and β-amyrin (Fig. 1), respectively, which were tested for their cytotoxic activity (Table 3)
Summary
The therapeutic potentialities of most species used in folk medicine remain unknown. Several of these species are commonly used to treat cancer. We investigated the cytotoxic activity of 18 plants from 16 families that are found in the northeast region of Brazil. The cytotoxic potential of some Brazilian medicinal plants has been previously investigated [4,5,6,7]; due to the country’s great biodiversity, the therapeutic potentialities of most species remain unknown. The cytotoxic activities of 18 plants belonging to 16 families found in northeast Brazil were assessed against tumor cell lines.
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