Cytotoxic Activity and Phytochemical Analysis of Artemisia haussknechtii

Cytotoxic activity of crude extract and fractions (petroleum ether, dichloromethane, n-butanol) of Artemisia haussknechtii aerial parts was investigated by MTT assay. Dichloromethane fraction showed the highest cytotoxic effect on MCF-7 cell line (IC50 = 297.17±7.99). Phytochemical analysis of the most effective fraction was carried out using normal phase column chromatography (CC) to get 8 sub-fractions (A-H). Thin layer chromatography (TLC) and High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) were used to further purification. Four known compounds with cytotoxic potential on cancer cell lines isolated from the most active fraction including: 5-Hydroxy-3',4',6,7-tetramethoxyflavone (Eupatilin 7- methyl ether) (1), 5-hydroxy 3,3',4',6,7- penthamethoxy-flavone (Artemetin) (2), 6-Methoxy-7-hydroxycoumarin (Scopoletin) (3) and Methyl Caffeate (4). Structure elucidation of isolated compounds was achived using spectroscopic techniques including ESIMS and 1D-NMR (1H and 13C) experiments. Cytotoxic activity of A. haussknechtii is probably due to the presence of coumarin and flavonoid compounds.
Source: Iranian Journal of Pharmaceutical Research - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Source Type: research