Assessing Chemical Constituents of Mimosa caesalpiniifolia Stem Bark: Possible Bioactive Components Accountable for the Cytotoxic Effect of M. caesalpiniifolia on Human Tumour Cell Lines

Abstract

Mimosa caesalpiniifolia is a native plant of the Brazilian northeast, and few studies have investigated its chemical composition and biological significance. This work describes the identification of the first chemical constituents in the ethanolic extract and fractions of M. caesalpiniifolia stem bark based on NMR, GC-qMS and HRMS analyses, as well as an assessment of their cytotoxic activity. GC-qMS analysis showed fatty acid derivatives, triterpenes and steroid substances and confirmed the identity of the chemical compounds isolated from the hexane fraction. Metabolite biodiversity in M. caesalpiniifolia stem bark revealed the differentiated accumulation of pentacyclic triterpenic acids, with a high content of betulinic acid and minor amounts of 3-oxo and 3β-acetoxy derivatives. OPEN ACCESSMolecules 2015, 20 4205Bioactive analysis based on total phenolic and flavonoid content showed a high amount of these compounds in the ethanolic extract, and ESI-(−)-LTQ-Orbitrap-MS identified caffeoyl hexose at high intensity, as well as the presence of phenolic acids and flavonoids. Furthermore, the evaluation of the ethanolic extract and fractions, including betulinic acid, against colon (HCT-116), ovarian (OVCAR-8) and glioblastoma (SF-295) tumour cell lines showed that the crude extract, hexane and dichloromethane fractions possessed moderate to high inhibitory activity, which may be related to the abundance of betulinic acid. The phytochemical and biological study of M. caesalpiniifolia stem bark thus revealed a new alternative source of antitumour compounds, possibly made effective by the presence of betulinic acid and by chemical co-synergism with other compounds.

Antimicrobial activity of Mimosa caesalpiniifolia Benth and its interaction with antibiotics against Staphylococcus aureus strains overexpressing efflux pump genes

“…A previous study showed that BA is the main compound (70·3%) present in the DCMF (Monção et al . ). Results showed that BA was inactive against all strains tested, indicating that isolated betulinic acid is not involved with the antimicrobial activity presented by DCMF, although we cannot rule out a possible synergism between BA and other components.…”

“…Chemical composition of the DCMF has already been determined by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometer and results showed the presence of betulinic acid (70·30%), lupeol (3·26%), methyl octacosanoate (3·19%), methyl hexacosanoate (3·08%), methyl tetracosanoate (2·16%) as main compounds (Monção et al . ).…”

“…The ethanoic extract obtained from the stem bark of M. caesalpiniifolia and their hexane and dichloromethane fractions, as well as, betulinic acid alone showed moderate to high inhibitory activity against colon, ovarian and glioblastoma tumour cells (Monção et al . ). Ethanoic extract from inflorescences of M. caesalpiniifolia showed hypotensive and vasorelaxant effects in normotensive rats (Santos et al .…”

The Anti-Inflammatory Potential of Mimosa caesalpiniifolia Following Experimental Colitis: Role of COX-2 and TNF-Alpha Expression

“…Polyphenols including flavonoids and tannins are the most common bioactive compounds found in M. caesalpi-niifolia. Such agents are able to inhibit tumour development in vivo and in vitro [16][17][18]. This is because polyphenols contain high polarity, and high solubility in polar solvent [19].…”

Are salty liquid food flavorings in vitro antitumor substances?

“…These methods have been very used in the search for new substances with antiproliferative activity and toxic potencial (Skehan et al 1990, Al-Nasiry et al 2007, Leite et al 2014, Monção et al 2015. Plant bioassays have been considered highly sensitive and simple in monitoring the cytotoxic and genotoxic effects of chemical compounds (USEPA) (Iganci et al 2006).…”