COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF EFFECTS OF SESQUITERPENE LACTONES AND POLYPHENOLS FROM INULA OCULUS-CHRISTI L. ON NORMAL AND CANCER CELLS
R. VELEVA1, M. BORISOVA1, M. MILEV1, A. KOSTADINOVA2, B. MRAVKOV1, J. DOUMANOV1, V. MOSKOVA-DOUMANOVA1, A. TRENDAFILOVA3, M. TODOROVA3, T. TOPOUZOVA-HRISTOVA1
1 Faculty of Biology, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Sofia, Bulgaria
2 Institute of Biophysics and Biomedical Engineering, BAS, Sofia, Bulgaria
3 Institute of Organic Chemistry with Centre of Phytochemistry, BAS, Sofia, Bulgaria
* Corresponding author: topouzova@biofac.uni-sofia.bg
Keywords: plant extracts, Inula oculus-christi, cytotoxicity, A549 cells, MDCK II cells
Abstract: Plant extracts have been widely used in traditional medicine for centuries. The experimental research on some herbs from genus Inula indicated the anti-tumor effect of certain components of plant extracts. Our previous studies have revealed stronger anti-proliferative effect of the total extracts from Inula oculus-christi on cancer cells compared to non-cancer cells. Our current efforts are to identify those of the extracts’ components, responsible for the observed effects. The aim of this study was to establish the effects of two extracts from on cancer and non-cancer cells. One of them was enriched in sesquiterpene lactones (extract A) and second - in phenolic acids and flavonoids (polyphenols, extract B). As a model system, we used non-cancer MDCKII cell line and cancer A549 cell line. Cytotoxicity was measured spectrophotometrically by crystal violet assay and the IC50 (inhibition concentration) for both extracts on both cell lines was determined. Changes in cell morphology were observed by bright field microscopy. Determined IC50 was higher for non-cancer cells than for cancer cells. We observed milder changes in the morphology of MDCK II cells after treatment. Our results indicate stronger impacts of studied extracts on cancer cells rather than on non-cancer cell. Extracts enriched in sesquiterpene lactones showed stronger cytotoxic effect.