Teucrium Plant Species as Natural Sources of Novel Anticancer Compounds: Antiproliferative, Proapoptotic and Antioxidant Properties

Milan S Stankovic,Snezana D Markovic,Marina D Topuzovic,Slavica R Solujic,Jovana B Zizic,Milena G Curcic

doi:10.3390/ijms12074190

Abstract

This study deals with total phenolic content, antiproliferative and proapoptotic activity of methanolic extracts from different Teucrium species and the effect on the prooxidant/antioxidant status in HCT-116 cells. The total phenolic content of the extracts was measured spectrophotometricaly and the obtained results ranged from 56.62 mg/g to 172.50 mg GA/g. The antiproliferative activity of methanolic extracts from different Teucrium species was determined using MTT cell viability assay, where IC50 value was used as a parameter for cytotoxicity. The type of cell death was explored by fluorescence microscopy using the acridin orange/ethidium bromide method. MTT assay showed that all extracts significantly reduced cell viability in a dose-dependent manner, with very low IC50 values. The highest content of phenolic compounds and the best cytotoxic activity on HCT-116 cells after 24 h of exposure was in T. chamaedrys extract, with IC50 values of 5.48 × 10−9 μg/mL. After 72 h, methanolic extract of T. arduini appeared to have the best cytotoxic activity on HCT-116, with IC50 values of 0.37 μg/mL. Treatments caused typical apoptotic morphological changes in HCT-116 cells and showed a high percentage of apoptotic cells. The results of the presented research indicate that some Teucrium extracts are a very rich source of phenols, which may directly contribute to high antiproliferative and proapoptotic activity.

Highlights

Throughout medical history, nature has long been shown to be an excellent and reliable source of new drugs, including anticancer agents
Consistent epidemiological findings indicate that a diet with high consumption of antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables significantly reduces the risk of many cancers
We examined the cytotoxic effects of methanolic extracts on the HCT-116 cell line using the MTT cell viability assay, as well as the proapototic effects we examined by acridine orange/ethidium bromide (AO/EB)

Summary

Introduction

Throughout medical history, nature has long been shown to be an excellent and reliable source of new drugs, including anticancer agents. More than 60% of currently used anticancer chemotherapeutic drugs are derived in one way or another from natural sources, including plants [3,4]. Large groups of different phenolic compounds from plants are important and essential anticancer agents [5,6]. In many cases, they are much more effective and do not have large unintended consequences compared with synthetic drugs. They are much more effective and do not have large unintended consequences compared with synthetic drugs They are much studied in order to explore their further use in pharmacy and medicine in the prevention and treatment of cancer

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Results

Conclusion