In vitro cytotoxicity of Duguetia sp extracts on Ehrlich tumor cells

Abstract

The genus Duguetia, of the Annonaceae family, includes around 100 species that have been used in folk medicine to treat several diseases. Its phytochemical compounds have been researched for their antifungal, antioxidant, antigenotoxic, anti-inflammatory and cytotoxic properties. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to conduct a preliminary study on the biological effects of Duguetia sp extracts by evaluating their in vitro cytotoxic effect on different cell types. To prepare the methanolic extract (ME), the leaves were macerated with 80% methanol. Part of the ME was dissolved in 10% phosphoric acid, and the acidic aqueous solution was partitioned with dichloromethane. The organic phase was evaporated to obtain an acetogenin-rich extract (ACE).  The extracts were diluted in RPMI culture medium, supplemented with 20% fetal bovine serum, and added to Erhlich tumor cells or mice spleen cells at different concentrations: the ACE extract at 1.35 mg mL^-1, 0.67 mg mL^-1 or 0,34 mg mL^-1, and the ME extract at 1.40 mg mL^-1, 0.70 mg mL^-1 or 0,35 mg mL^-1. After 24 h, cytotoxicity analysis was performed using the Trypan Blue exclusion method. The results demonstrated that the extracts are cytotoxic at all concentrations to Ehrlich tumor cells and mice spleen cells. According to the results, we concluded that the extracts of Duguetia sp had a cytotoxic effect on the studied cells in vitro. This was the first study to report the biological effect of this plant genus in this type of cells; however, further study is needed to determine the current species used and the compounds present in the extracts.