title: Cytotoxic potential of selected medicinal plants in northeast Brazil.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Great biodiversity is a highlight of Brazilian flora. In contrast, the therapeutic potentialities of most species used in folk medicine remain unknown. Several of these species are commonly used to treat cancer. In this study, we investigated the cytotoxic activity of 18 plants from 16 families that are found in the northeast region of Brazil.
  
  
  METHODS
  The following species were studied: Byrsonima sericea DC. (Malpighiaceae), Cupania impressinervia Acev. Rodr. var. (revoluta) Radlk (Sapindaceae), Duranta repens Linn. (Verbenaceae), Helicostylis tomentosa (Poepp. & Endl) Rusby (Moraceae), Himatanthus bracteatus (A.DC.) Woodson (Apocynaceae), Ipomoea purga (Wender.) Hayne (Convolvulaceae), Ixora coccinea Linn. (Rubiaceae), Mabea piriri Aubl. (Euphorbiaceae), Miconia minutiflora (Melastomataceae), Momordica charantia L. (Cucurbitaceae), Ocotea glomerata (Nees) Mez (Lauraceae), Ocotea longifolia Kunth (Oreodaphne opifera Mart. Nees) (Lauraceae), Pavonia fruticosa (Mill.) Fawc. & Rendle (Malvaceae), Psychotria capitata Ruiz & Pav. (Rubiaceae), Schefflera morototoni (Aubl.) Maguire, Steyerm. & Frodin (Araliaceae), Solanum paludosum Moric. (Solanaceae), Xylopia frutescens Aubl. (Annonaceae) and Zanthoxylum rhoifolium Lam. (Rutaceae). Their dried leaves, stems, flowers or fruits were submitted to different solvent extractions, resulting in 55 extracts. After incubating for 72 h, the cytotoxicity of each extract was tested against tumor cell lines using the alamar blue assay.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The B. sericea, D. repens, H. bracteatus, I. purga, I. coccinea, M. piriri, O. longifolia and P. capitata extracts demonstrated the most potent cytotoxic activity. The chloroform soluble fractions of D. repens flowers and the hexane extract of I. coccinea flowers led to the isolation of quercetin and a mixture of α- and β-amyrin, respectively, and quercetin showed moderate cytotoxic activity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The B. sericea, D. repens, H. bracteatus, I. purga, I. coccinea, M. piriri, O. longifolia and P. capitata plants were identified as having potent cytotoxic effects. Further investigations are required to determine the mechanisms of cytotoxicity exhibited and their in vivo activities. This work reinforces the need to understand the therapeutics potentialities of Brazilian medicinal plants.
authors.affiliation: Undade de Ensino de Viçosa, Campus Arapiraca, Universidade Federal de Alagoas, Viçosa, Alagoas, Brazil.
authors.forename: Thiago B C
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: da Silva
authors.affiliation: Instituto Gonçalo Moniz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (IGM/FIOCRUZ-BA), Rua Waldemar Falcão, 121, Candeal, 40296-710, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.
authors.forename: Cinara O D'Sousa
authors.initials: CO
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.affiliation: Instituto Gonçalo Moniz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (IGM/FIOCRUZ-BA), Rua Waldemar Falcão, 121, Candeal, 40296-710, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.
authors.forename: Alexandre F C
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Galvão
authors.affiliation: Instituto Gonçalo Moniz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (IGM/FIOCRUZ-BA), Rua Waldemar Falcão, 121, Candeal, 40296-710, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.
authors.forename: Larissa M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Bomfim
authors.affiliation: Instituto Gonçalo Moniz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (IGM/FIOCRUZ-BA), Rua Waldemar Falcão, 121, Candeal, 40296-710, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ana Carolina B da C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Rodrigues
authors.affiliation: Undade de Ensino de Viçosa, Campus Arapiraca, Universidade Federal de Alagoas, Viçosa, Alagoas, Brazil.
authors.forename: Mauricio C S
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Mota
authors.affiliation: Undade de Ensino de Viçosa, Campus Arapiraca, Universidade Federal de Alagoas, Viçosa, Alagoas, Brazil.
authors.forename: Alex A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Dantas
authors.affiliation: Undade de Ensino de Viçosa, Campus Arapiraca, Universidade Federal de Alagoas, Viçosa, Alagoas, Brazil.
authors.forename: Tiago R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Dos Santos
authors.affiliation: Instituto Gonçalo Moniz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (IGM/FIOCRUZ-BA), Rua Waldemar Falcão, 121, Candeal, 40296-710, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.|Centro de Biotecnologia e Terapia Celular, Hospital São Rafael, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.
authors.forename: Milena B P
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Soares
authors.affiliation: Instituto Gonçalo Moniz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (IGM/FIOCRUZ-BA), Rua Waldemar Falcão, 121, Candeal, 40296-710, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. danielpbezerra@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Daniel P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Bezerra
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D001938:Brazil; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D020128:Inhibitory Concentration 50; D008519:Medicine, Traditional; D051379:Mice; D008517:Phytotherapy; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity*; D010946:Plants, Medicinal / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D010936:Plant Extracts
keywords: Cytotoxicity; Medicinal plants; Natural products; Northeastern Brazil