Cytotoxic Properties of the Stem Bark of Citrus Reticulata Blanco (Rutaceae)

The bioassay-guided fractionation of the n-hexane extract of Citrus reticulata Blanco (Rutaceae) stem bark yielded scoparone (1), xanthyletin (2), lupeol (3), β-amyrin (4), stigmasterol (5), β-sitosterol (6) and palmitic acid. The structures of these compounds were determined by comprehensive spectroscopic analyses, i.e., 1D and 2D NMR and EI-MS, and by comparison with the reported data. Extracts, fractions and isolated compounds 1–6 were assessed for cytotoxicity by the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-dphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay against three human cancer cell lines, i.e., human lung adenocarcinoma cell line A549, human breast adenocarcinoma cell line MCF7 and human Caucasian prostate adenocarcinoma cell line PC3. Significant activity of the n-hexane and the dichloromethane extracts was observed against the breast cancer cell line MCF7 with IC50s of 45.6 and 54.7 μg/mL, respectively. Moreover, the 70% ethyl acetate in n-hexane chromatographic fraction showed significant activity displaying IC50 values of 53.0, 52.4 and 49.1 μg/mL against the cancer cell lines A549, MCF7 and PC3, respectively. Encouragingly, an IC50 of 510.0 μg/mL against the human normal prostate cell line PNT2 indicated very low toxicity and hence favourable selectivity indices for the 70% ethyl acetate in n-hexane fraction in the range of 9.6–10.4 towards cell lines A549, MCF7 and PC3. Because compounds isolated from the above fraction only delivered IC50 values in the range of 18.2–96.3, 9.2–34.1 and 7.5–97.2 μg/mL against A549, MCF7 and PC3 cell lines, respectively, synergistic action between compounds is suggested. Bioassay results valorize the anticancer effectivity of the stem bark of this plant in Cameroonian pharmacopoeia. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.