Abstract
In the present study, we investigated the in vitro anti-tumoral activities of fractions from aqueous extracts of the husk fiber of the typical A and common varieties of Cocos nucifera (Palmae). Cytotoxicity against leukemia cells was determined by the 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Cells (2 x 10(4)/well) were incubated with 0, 5, 50 or 500 microg/mL high- or low-molecular weight fractions for 48 h, treated with MTT and absorbance was measured with an ELISA reader. The results showed that both varieties have almost similar antitumoral activity against the leukemia cell line K562 (60.1 +/- 8.5 and 47.5 +/- 11.9% for the typical A and common varieties, respectively). Separation of the crude extracts with Amicon membranes yielded fractions with molecular weights ranging in size from 1-3 kDa (fraction A) to 3-10 kDa (fraction B) and to more than 10 kDa (fraction C). Cells were treated with 500 microg/mL of these fractions and cytotoxicity was evaluated by MTT. Fractions ranging in molecular weight from 1-10 kDa had higher cytotoxicity. Interestingly, C. nucifera extracts were also active against Lucena 1, a multidrug-resistant leukemia cell line. Their cytotoxicity against this cell line was about 50% (51.9 +/- 3.2 and 56.3 +/- 2.9 for varieties typical A and common, respectively). Since the common C. nucifera variety is extensively cultured in Brazil and the husk fiber is its industrial by-product, the results obtained in the present study suggest that it might be a very inexpensive source of new antineoplastic and anti-multidrug resistant drugs that warrants further investigation.
Highlights
Cell viability was assessed by the 3-[4,5dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay [8]
Despite the biological properties observed for C. nucifera, typical A variety, its culture is relatively rare in comparison with the common variety of C. nucifera
We used bio-assay-guided fractionation to investigate the antitumoral activity of different molecular weight fractions obtained from the husk fiber aqueous extracts of C. nucifera, varieties typical A and common, to evaluate whether the common variety has the same biological properties described for the typical A variety
Summary
Cell viability was assessed by the 3-[4,5dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay [8]. Recent data from our group have shown that the aqueous extract of the husk fiber of C. nucifera, typical A variety, popularly known as “olho de cravo”, has antibacterial and antiviral [4], antitumoral [5] and antileishmanial properties [6].
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