Anticancer potential of Thevetia peruviana fruit methanolic extract

Abstract

Background Thevetia peruviana (Pers.) K. Schum or Cascabela peruviana (L.) Lippold (commonly known as ayoyote, codo de fraile, lucky nut, or yellow oleander), native to Mexico and Central America, is a medicinal plant used traditionally to cure diseases like ulcers, scabies, hemorrhoids and dissolve tumors. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the cytotoxic, antiproliferative and apoptotic activity of methanolic extract of T. peruviana fruits on human cancer cell lines.MethodsThe cytotoxic activity of T. peruviana methanolic extract was carried out on human breast, colorectal, prostate and lung cancer cell lines and non-tumorigenic control cells (fibroblast and Vero), using the MTT assay. For proliferation and motility, clonogenic and wound-healing assays were performed. Morphological alterations were monitored by trypan blue exclusion, as well as DNA fragmentation and AO/EB double staining was performed to evaluate apoptosis. The extract was separated using flash chromatography, and the resulting fractions were evaluated on colorectal cancer cells for their cytotoxic activity. The active fractions were further analyzed through mass spectrometry.ResultsThe T. peruviana methanolic extract exhibited cytotoxic activity on four human cancer cell lines: prostate, breast, colorectal and lung, with values of IC50 1.91 ± 0.76, 5.78 ± 2.12, 6.30 ± 4.45 and 12.04 ± 3.43 μg/mL, respectively. The extract caused a significant reduction of cell motility and colony formation on all evaluated cancer cell lines. In addition, morphological examination displayed cell size reduction, membrane blebbing and detachment of cells, compared to non-treated cancer cell lines. The T. peruviana extract induced apoptotic cell death, which was confirmed by DNA fragmentation and AO/EB double staining. Fractions 4 and 5 showed the most effective cytotoxic activity and their MS analysis revealed the presence of the secondary metabolites: thevetiaflavone and cardiac glycosides.Conclusion T. peruviana extract has potential as natural anti-cancer product with critical effects in the proliferation, motility, and adhesion of human breast and colorectal cancer cells, and apoptosis induction in human prostate and lung cancer cell lines, with minimal effects on non-tumorigenic cell lines.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12906-017-1727-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Effect of salicylic acid and methyl jasmonate in the production of phenolic compounds in plant cell suspension cultures of Thevetia peruviana

“…Therefore, the un-regulated consumption of the fruits has been reported as toxic [ 5 ]. T. peruviana also produces phenolic compounds with potential usage as antimicrobial [ 6 , 7 ] and antineoplastic drugs [ 8 , 9 ]. Additionally, flavonoids have been identified in the fruits and leaves of this plant, and they are capable of inhibit the integrase enzyme and reverse transcriptase associated to DNA polymerase of the human immunodeficiency virus HIV-1 [ 10 ].…”

Cytochalasin H isolated from mangrove‑derived endophytic fungus induces apoptosis and inhibits migration in lung cancer cells

“…The incidence of cancer has increased to 14 million new cases and 8.2 million cancer-related deaths in 2012 (1). Cancer is characterized by the uncontrolled and invasive growth of cells (2). Chemotherapy is a traditional treatment, but chemotherapeutic drugs have many side effects (3,4).…”

Screening for Selective Anticancer Activity of 65 Extracts of Plants Collected in Western Andalusia, Spain

“…Cardiac glycosides may be responsible for the selective cytotoxicity shown by the extracts from the leaves of Cascabela thevetia (L.) Lippold (10) and the leaves of Digitalis purpurea L. (18). We and others have previously observed that plants with cardiac glycosides, and several cardiac glycosides (e.g., digitoxin), induce potent and selective cytotoxic effects against several types of cancer cells, including lung cancer cells [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]. Isoquinoline alkaloids may participate in the cytotoxicity and selectivity observed for the extract from the bulb of Pancratium maritimum L.…”