Cytotoxic Activity of Quassinoids from Eurycoma longifolia

Abstract

Twenty-four quassinoids isolated from Eurycoma longifolia Jack were investigated for their cytotoxicity against a panel of four different cancer cell lines, which includes three murine cell lines [colon 26-L5 carcinoma (colon 26-L5), B16-BL6 melanoma (B16-BL6), Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC)] and a human lung A549 adenocarcinoma (A549) cell line. Among the tested compounds, eurycomalactone (9) displayed the most potent activity against all the tested cell lines; colon 26-L5 (IC50 = 0.70 μM), B16-BL6 (IC50 = 0.59 μM), LLC (IC50 = 0.78 μM), and A549 (IC50 = 0.73 μM). These activities were comparable to clinically used anticancer agent doxorubicin (colon 26-L5, IC50 = 0.76 μM; B16-BL6, IC50 = 0.86 μM; LLC, IC50 = 0.80 μM; A549, IC50 = 0.66 μM).