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Phytochemical screening and evaluation of cytotoxicity of stem bark extracts of <i>Anaxagorea dolichocarpa</i> and <i>Duguetia chrysocarpa</i> (Annonaceae)


Reísa da Silva Pinheiro
Suzana Vieira Rabelo
Ana Paula de Oliveira
Amanda Leite Guimarães
Manoel Odorico de Moraes-Filho
Marcília Pinheiro da Costa
Cláudia do Ó Pessoa
Ana Sílvia Suassuna Carneiro Lúcio
Jackson Roberto Guedes da Silva Almeida

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the phytochemistry and cytotoxic activity of stem bark extracts from Anaxagorea dolichocarpa and Duguetia chrysocarpa - two species of the Annonaceae family.
Methods: The crude ethanol bark extracts (EtOH) of the plants were obtained by maceration. The crude extracts were suspended in a mixture of methanol (MeOH) and water (H2O) (proportion 3:7 v/v) and partitioned with hexane, chloroform (CHCl3) and ethyl acetate (AcOEt) in ascending order of polarity to obtain the respective fractions. The extracts were evaluated on thin layer chromatography (TLC) plates of silica gel to highlight the main groups of secondary metabolites. Cytotoxicity was tested against human tumor cell lines - OVCAR-8 (ovarian), SF-295 (brain) and HCT-116 (colon) - using 3- (4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay.
Results: The screening results demonstrated that all the extracts were positive for the presence of flavonoids and tannins. The presence of alkaloids also was detected in some extracts. The hexane extract of A. dolichocarpa showed the strongest cytotoxicity against HCT-116 with cell growth inhibition of 89.02 %.
Conclusion: The findings demonstrate for the first time the cytotoxic activity of the extracts of A. dolichocarpa and D. chrysocarpa, thus providing some evidence that plants of the Annonaceae family are a source of active secondary metabolites with cytotoxic activity.

Keywords: Annonaceae, Anaxagorea dolichocarpa, Duguetia chrysocarpa, Anti-cancer agents, Ovarian, brain and colon cell lines


Journal Identifiers


eISSN: 1596-9827
print ISSN: 1596-5996