Cytotoxicity of Flavonoids Isolated from<i>Alibertia myrciifolia</i>.

Abstract

The current study reports the cytotoxic activity of five structurally related flavonoids isolated from the hexane extract of the aerial parts of Alibertia myrciifolia Spruce ex K. Schum. The activity was determined as the ability to inhibit tumor cell growth and sea urchin egg development. Acacetin (IC50 from 7.5 to 21.2 µg/ml) and apigenin (IC50 from 4.9 to 12.3 µg/ml) inhibited the proliferation of five cell lines analyzed by the MTT assay. Lethedocin (IC50 from 11.2 to 22.2 µg/ml) inhibited the proliferation of three among five tested cells, CEM, MCF-7, and B-16, while the other two compounds, corymbosin and apometzgerin, did not present any activity at the tested concentrations. In the sea urchin egg assay, apigenin and apometzgerin induced a dose-dependent inhibition at the first cleavage (IC50 of 11.0 and 21.5 µg/ml, respectively), while acacetin and lethedocin were only effective on third cleavage and blastulae, and corymbosin did not modify normal egg cleavage even at the highest tested concentration (100 µg/ml). The potency order for these compounds was different considering the two assays used, indicating that the structural requirements for cytotoxic action will depend on the model used.