Cytotoxicity of syringin and 4-methoxycinnamyl alcohol isolated from Foeniculum vulgare on selected human cell lines

• Published in: Natural product research 2015-09, Vol.29 (18), p.1752-1756
• Main Authors: Lall, Namrita, Kishore, Navneet, Binneman, Brigitte, Twilley, Danielle, van de Venter, Maryna, Plessis-Stoman, Debbie du, Boukes, Gerhardt, Hussein, Ahmed
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 4-methoxycinnamyl alcohol; Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic - chemistry; Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic - isolation & purification; cell cycle analysis; Cell Line, Tumor - drug effects; cytotoxicity; DNA fragmentation; Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor; Foeniculum - chemistry; Foeniculum vulgare; Glucosides - chemistry; Glucosides - isolation & purification; HeLa Cells - drug effects; Humans; Inhibitory Concentration 50; Phenylpropionates - chemistry; Phenylpropionates - isolation & purification; Plant Extracts - chemistry; Propanols - chemistry; Propanols - isolation & purification; Seeds - chemistry
• ISSN: 1478-6419; 1478-6427
• DOI: 10.1080/14786419.2014.999058

This study was carried out to determine the cytotoxic effect of seven plant extracts and the isolated compounds - syringin and 4-methoxycinnamyl alcohol - on cancerous and non-cancerous cells. The ethanol extract of Foeniculum vulgare was found to exhibit the most significant toxicity with an IC 50 value of 19.97 μg/mL on HeLa cells. Bioassay-guided fractionation led to the isolation of two compounds, syringin (1) and 4-methoxycinnamyl alcohol (2). Both compounds showed toxicity against MCF-7, HeLa and DU145 cancer cell line. The results showed that compound 2 showed high toxicity against all the cancer cell lines with IC 50 values of 14.24, 7.82 and 22.10 μg/mL, respectively. 4-Methoxycinnamyl alcohol also showed no apoptotic effect in cell cycle analysis after 48 h at a concentration of 10 μg/mL. However, DNA fragmentation study revealed that necrosis took place at a concentration of 10 μg/mL after 48 h exposure.