Characterisation of the antiproliferative constituents and activity of Ficus exasperata (Vahl) on ovarian cancer cells –a preliminary investigation

Abstract

Ovarian cancer is one of the most common gynaecological cancers today. This study therefore investigates the anticancer effects of Ficus exasperata extracts and fractions on ovarian cancer cells. The antiproliferative activity of the crude extracts (1 mg/mL) was assessed using the MTT assay on A2780 (ovarian cancer) cell line. Bio-activity guided fractionation was performed and preliminary identification was further achieved using high resolution mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. All crude extracts tested exhibited antiproliferative activity except for the methanol extract which interestingly showed proliferative effects. Five fatty acids were identified from the active fractions (FB1-10 and FB1-12). FB1-12 exhibited an IC value of 15.20 μg/mL. The least potent fraction (FB1-4 + 5) had an IC value of 34.51 μg/mL. H1-HEX and H1-MET exhibited 97.2 and 97.9%, respectively, compared to control. This study therefore provides proof-of-principle that fatty acids of Ficus exasperata exhibit significant antiproliferative effects on ovarian cancer cells.

Phyllanthus muellerianus and Ficus exasperata exhibit anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic activities in human prostate cancer PC-3 cells by modulating calcium influx and activating caspases

“…Phloridzin (Choi 2019) and linoleic acid (Lu et al 2010) are known to suppress tumor growth by inducing oxidant stress, blocking cyclin-dependent kinases and inducing apoptosis. However, the antiproliferative effect of F. exasperata observed in the current study was previously reported on ovarian cancer cells (Bafor et al 2017), which may be due to its contain in docosane, cardanol and chlorogenic acid. The anti-proliferative potentials of P. muellerianus and F. exasperata could be associated to their ability to modulate calcium in ux in the cells.…”

“…Although Tang et al (2010; and Bafor et al (2017) have reported the bene cial effects of some Phyllanthus sp and F. exasperata, respectively on MeWo prostate cancer and A2780 ovarian cancer cells, their effects on PC-3 cells have not been investigated. We characterized P. muellerianus and F. exasperata extracts by LC-MS analysis and determined their in vitro antioxidant potentials by DPPH assay.…”

“…Natural products are effective and reliable sources for the development of anticancer drugs with slight or no side effects (Kasala et al 2015). Numerous studies have indicated that Phyllanthus sp (P. urinaria, P. niruri, P. watsonii and P. amarus) (Tang et al 2010; and F. exasperata (Bafor et al 2017), respectively inhibit the proliferation of MeWo prostate cancer and A2780 ovarian cancer cells, but there is no work on the effects of these tropical plants on the PC-3 prostate cancer cells. This work was planned to evaluate the effects P. muellerianus and F. exasperata on cell proliferation, intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca 2+ ] i ), apoptosis level, caspase 3/9 activities, oxidative stress related markers (ROS, MDA, SOD, CAT and GSH-Px) and mRNA levels of Bax and cytochrome C in PC-3 cells.…”

“…Moreover, seven organic acids (oxalic, aconitic, citric, tartaric, malic, quinic, fumaric) were also identi ed in F. exasperata extacts (Mouho et al 2018). The in vitro antioxidant potential (Akanni et al 2014) and antiproliferative activities of F. exasperata have been reported in ovarian cancer cells (Bafor et al 2017). µg/ml) of P. muellerianus or F. exasperata was added to DPPH (190 µL; 150 µM) in ethanol solution.…”

Phytochemical Insights into Ficus sur Extracts and Their Biological Activity

“…Multiple studies describe the anticancer potential of Ficus spp, ex. Ficus carica [ 46 , 47 ], Ficus salicifolia [ 46 ], Ficus religiosa [ 48 ], Ficus beecheyana [ 49 ], Ficus pandurata H [ 50 ] and Ficus exasperata (Vahl) [ 51 ], against various cancer cell lines, however, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first report showing Ficus sur stem bark extracts as a possible source of antineoplastic molecules.…”