Since ancient times, Chrysopogon zizanioides has been utilized as a traditional medicinal plant for the treatment of numerous ailments, but neither its plant extract form nor its phytoconstituents have been fully explored. With this in mind, the present research was designed to isolate and structurally characterize one of its chemical constituents and evaluate its cytotoxic potential. Therefore, an ethanolic extract of roots was prepared and subjected to column chromatography using solvents of varying polarities. The obtained pure compound was characterized using various chromatographic and spectroscopic techniques such as high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), carbon and proton nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and liquid chromatography–mass spectroscopy (LC-MS) and identified as longifolene. This compound was evaluated for its cytotoxic potential using an MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay on the prostate (DU-145), oral (SCC-29B) cancer cell line and normal kidney cell line (Vero cells), taking doxorubicin as a standard drug. The obtained outcomes revealed that longifolene possesses cytotoxic potential against both prostate (IC50 = 78.64 µg/mL) as well as oral (IC50 = 88.92 µg/mL) cancer cell lines with the least toxicity in healthy Vero cells (IC50 = 246.3 µg/mL) when compared to doxorubicin. Hence, this primary exploratory study of longifolene exhibited its cytotoxic potency along with wide safety margins in healthy cell lines, giving an idea that the compounds possess some ability to differentiate between cancerous cells and healthy cells.
Keywords: cancer, vetiver, aromatherapy, longifolene, cytotoxicity
Author Biographies
Madhuri Grover, Bhawani Shankar (B.S.) Anangpuria Institute of Pharmacy, Alampur 121004, India
School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Modern Vidya Niketan MVN University, Palwal 121105, India
Hassan Alhazmi, Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, Jazan University, Jazan 45142, Saudi Arabia
Substance Abuse and Toxicology Research Centre, Jazan University, Jazan 45142, Saudi Arabia
Simona Bungau, Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, University of Oradea, 410087 Oradea, Romania
Doctoral School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Oradea, 410087 Oradea, Romania
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