Malaysian Journal of Analytical Sciences, Vol 27 No 5 (2023): 1079 - 1088

 

THE LATENT CYTOTOXICITY EFFICIENCY OF THE CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS OF Morus Rubra LINN. BARK ON CANCER

CELL LINES

 

(Keberkesanan Kesitotoksian Laten Bahan Kimia daripada Jujukan Kulit Morus rubra Linn. ke atas Titisan Sel Kanser)

 

Maria Carmen Tan1*, Jasmine Ting1, and Glenn Oyong2

 

1Chemistry Department,

De La Salle University, 2401 Taft Avenue, Manila 1004, Philippines

2Molecular Science Unit Laboratory Center for Natural Sciences and Environmental Research,

De la Salle University, 2401 Taft Avenue, Manila 1004, Philippines

 

*Corresponding author: maria.carmen.tan@dlsu.edu.ph

 

 

Received: 18 April 2023; Accepted: 7 September 2023; Published:  30 October 2023

 

 

Abstract

Owing to the intricate nature of cancer treatment, traditional herbal medicines are being regarded as potential anticancer agents, primarily due to their reported low toxicity in normal cells. With this in mind, this study's primary objective was to identify the constituents present in the semi-purified 15% ethyl acetate fraction of Morus rubra bark (M1) and to investigate its antiproliferative property on immortalized cell lines (HT- 29, HepG2, BxPC-3, MCF-7, HeLa, and THP-1) by an in vitro cell viability assay with Zeocin and dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) as the positive and negative controls. The chemical constituents present in M1 were identified using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-EI-MS). The NIST library v 2.0 was used to putatively identify the thirteen (13) compounds observed in the GC-EI-MS chromatogram which were primarily tocopherols (27.58%) and phytosterols (44.06%). M1 exhibited high cytotoxicity in HepG2 cell lines (IC50 = 7.09 μg/mL) and was followed by MCF-7 (IC50 = 7.12 μg/mL), HT-29 (IC50 = 7.98 μg/mL), HeLa (IC50 = 16.63 μg/mL), BxPC-3 (IC50 = 16.89 μg/mL) and THP-1(IC50 = 17.43 μg/mL). M1 did not exhibit cytotoxicity on normal HDFn while Zeocin on normal cells were exceedingly disruptive. The data generated from this work suggests that M1 could be an effective chemotherapeutic agent due to the presence of phytosterols and tocopherols.

 

Keywords: Moraceae, Morus rubra, gas chromatography-electron ionization-mass spectrometry, retention index, cell viability assays

 

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