IN VITRO CYTOTOXICITY OF CARDIAC GLYCOSIDE 17βH-NERIIFOLIN ISOLATED FROM CERBERA ODOLLAM AGAINST CERVICAL (HeLa), LUNG (A549) AND PROSTATE (DU145) CANCER CELL LINES

Abstract

Cardiac glycosides (CGs) are a group of compounds with glycone (sugar) and aglycone (steroid and lactone ring) structures, which can be isolated from certain plants and amphibians. The earliest drugs used to treat heart failure were CGs such as digoxin and digitoxin due to their antiarrhythmic properties. Later, some CGs were also reported to have anticancer properties. In this study, we investigate the anticancer potential of a CG, which is 17βHneriifolin, isolated from Cerbera odollam leaves. This study aimed to evaluate the anticancer properties of 17βHneriifolin against selected cancer cell lines and compare its anticancer activities with other CGs, namely digitoxin, digoxin and ouabain. The in vitro anticancer activities of these compounds were assessed against cervical (HeLa), lung (A549) and prostate (DU145) cancer cell lines using Sulforhodamine B (SRB) assay following 72 hours of treatment. Paclitaxel was used as the control drug. IC₅₀ values were determined from concentration-response curves by plotting the percentage of cell viability against concentrations of the compounds. The results revealed that 17βH-neriifolin was found to be the most active in inhibiting the proliferation of cancer cells, with IC₅₀ values ranging from 5.3 to 16 nM followed by ouabain (10–35 nM), digitoxin (22–120 nM) and digoxin (27–600 nM) in all cancer cells tested. These findings suggest that 17βH-neriifolin—which targets the sodium potassium ATPase, a promising new anticancer drug target—has a broad spectrum of activity against various cancer cells and warrant further investigation in the drug discovery phase.