Phytochemical study of Magonia pubescens A. St.-Hil. and cytotoxicity of branches aqueous extract on breast cancer and leukemia cells

Abstract

Magonia pubescens is a natural species from the Brazilian cerrado biome. Its fruits and seeds are used in the treatment of seborrheic dermatitis, a common inflammatory skin disease. In this work, the known compounds lapachol, stigmasterol, maniladiol and scopoletin were isolated from hexane and dichloromethane extracts of M. pubescens branches. The aqueous extract of this material was fractioned through a liquid-liquid partition and the obtained fractions were analyzed by UHPLC-MS/MS. The results obtained were compared with data from three databases, leading to the putative identification of 51 compounds from different classes, including flavonoids, saponins and triterpenes. The cytotoxicity of aqueous fractions was assayed against breast cancer (MDA-MB-231) and leukemia (THP-1 and K562) cells. The best activity was observed for fraction AE3 against MDA-MB-231 cells (IC₅₀ 30.72 µg.mL⁻¹).

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• Magonia pubescensA. St.-Hil
• cytotoxicity
• breast cancer cells
• leukemia cells
• UHPLC-MS/MS

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Instituto René Rachou (FioCruz Minas) for the UHPLC-MS/MS analysis, and to Dr. Maria Olívia Mercadante Simões, Universidade Estadual de Montes Claros, Minas Gerais, Brazil, for the harvest and identification of the plant species.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico under Grant 165137/2017-7.