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Study of the cytotoxic activity of Styrax camporum extract and its chemical markers, egonol and homoegonol

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Abstract

The benzofuran lignans egonol and homoegonol are found in all species of the genus Styrax. Since natural products are important sources of new anticancer drugs, this study evaluated the cytotoxic activity of a hydroalcoholic extract of the stems of S. camporum (SCHE) and their chemical markers, egonol (EG) and homoegonol (HE), against different tumor cell lines (B16F10, MCF-7, HeLa, HepG2, and MO59J). A normal human cell line (GM07492A) was included. Cytotoxic activity was evaluated at different treatment times (24, 48 and 72 h) using the XTT assay. More effective results were observed after 72 h of treatment. The lowest IC50 values were found for the HepG2 cell line, ranging from 11.2 to 55.0 µg/mL. The combination of EG and HE exerted higher cytotoxic activity than SCHE or treatment with either lignan alone, with the lowest IC50 (13.31 µg/mL) being observed for the MCF-7 line. Furthermore, treatment with these lignans was significantly more cytotoxic for some tumor cell lines compared to the normal cell line, GM07492A, indicating selectivity. These results suggest that these lignans may be used to treat cancer without affecting normal cells.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP; Brazil; Grant # 2013/13903-9). P.F. Oliveira was the recipient of a Doctoral fellowship from FAPESP (Grant # 2011/201310-2). The authors are grateful to Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) for the fellowships granted.

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The authors declared that they have no conflicts of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Universidade de Franca, Avenida Dr. Armando Salles de Oliveira, 201 – Parque Universitário, Franca, São Paulo, 14404-600, Brazil

    Pollyanna Francielli de Oliveira, Jaqueline Lopes Damasceno, Camila Spereta Bertanha, Alba Regina Barbosa Araújo, Patrícia Mendonça Pauletti & Denise Crispim Tavares

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  1. Pollyanna Francielli de Oliveira
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  2. Jaqueline Lopes Damasceno
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  3. Camila Spereta Bertanha
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  4. Alba Regina Barbosa Araújo
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  5. Patrícia Mendonça Pauletti
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  6. Denise Crispim Tavares
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Correspondence to Pollyanna Francielli de Oliveira.

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de Oliveira, P.F., Damasceno, J.L., Bertanha, C.S. et al. Study of the cytotoxic activity of Styrax camporum extract and its chemical markers, egonol and homoegonol. Cytotechnology 68, 1597–1602 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10616-015-9864-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10616-015-9864-y

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