Cytotoxic potential of selected medicinal plants in northeast Brazil

BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Research Article

Cinara O. D’Sousa Costa¹  Alexandre F. C. Galvão¹  Larissa M. Bomfim¹  Daniel P. Bezerra¹  Ana Carolina B. da C. Rodrigues¹  Milena B. P. Soares²  Thiago B. C. da Silva³  Alex A. Dantas³  Tiago R. dos Santos³  Mauricio C. S. Mota³ 

[1] Instituto Gonçalo Moniz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (IGM/FIOCRUZ-BA), Rua Waldemar Falcão, 121, Candeal, 40296-710, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil;Instituto Gonçalo Moniz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (IGM/FIOCRUZ-BA), Rua Waldemar Falcão, 121, Candeal, 40296-710, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil;Centro de Biotecnologia e Terapia Celular, Hospital São Rafael, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil;Undade de Ensino de Viçosa, Campus Arapiraca, Universidade Federal de Alagoas, Viçosa, Alagoas, Brazil;

关键词: Cytotoxicity;    Northeastern Brazil;    Medicinal plants;    Natural products;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12906-016-1166-1

 received in 2016-04-07, accepted in 2016-06-22,  发布年份 2016

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

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.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s). 2016