Cytotoxic activity of different polarity fractions obtained from methanolic extracts of Vismia baccifera and Vismia macrophylla (Hypericaceae) collected in Venezuela

Context: Cancer is a complex disease involving numerous changes in cell physiology and abnormal cell growth, which lead to malignant tumors. Many investigations are still carrying on in different areas including, natural products, to find a possible break point to this pathology. Aims: To evaluate the cytotoxic activity on different polar extracts from Vismia baccifera and Vismia macrophylla collected in two locations of the Venezuelan Andes. Methods: Cytotoxic activity assay was carried out following the colorimetric (3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide) MTT assay. Human tumor cell Lines from breast carcinoma without gene over-expression (MCF-7), breast carcinoma with overexpressed gene (SKBr3), prostate carcinoma (PC3) and cervix epithelial carcinoma (HeLa) were tested with different polarity solvent extracts (hexane, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate, butanol, water) from the two species under investigation. Human dermis fibroblasts were used as control cells. Mean inhibitory concentration (IC50) was calculated. Results: Extracts from V. macrophylla showed significant inhibition of cervix epithelial carcinoma with values ranging from 6.09 µg/mL to 17.51 µg/mL; breast carcinoma with an overexpressed gene with values from 12.14 µg/mL to 16.90 µg/mL and prostate carcinoma from 10.91 µg/mL to 17.70 µg/mL. V. baccifera extracts showed the strongest activity against prostate carcinoma with an IC50 value of 2.92 µg/mL. Conclusions: The present study showed evidence for the anticancer activity of Vismia baccifera and Vismia macrophylla extracts since caused growth inhibition in different cell lines at low concentrations, thus, it is considered not only an important contribution to the natural products research but bring supportive data for further investigations on cancer research.