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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Planta Medica International Open 2022; 9(01): e54-e59
DOI: 10.1055/a-1699-8748
Original Papers

Libocedroquinone: A Promising Anticancer Lead against Lung Cancer from Calocedrus Decurrens

Santhi Subramanyan
1   Chemical Sciences and Technology Division, CSIR-National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram, India
2   Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India
,
Varsha Karunakaran
1   Chemical Sciences and Technology Division, CSIR-National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram, India
2   Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India
,
Selvakumar Deepika
1   Chemical Sciences and Technology Division, CSIR-National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram, India
,
Anuja Joseph Gracy
1   Chemical Sciences and Technology Division, CSIR-National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram, India
2   Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India
,
Veluthoor Sheeba
3   CoreValleys Herbal Technologies, Kozhikode, India
,
Karchesy Joseph
4   Wood Science and Engineering, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA
,
Kaustabh Kumar Maiti
1   Chemical Sciences and Technology Division, CSIR-National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram, India
2   Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India
,
Ramavarma Luxmi Varma
1   Chemical Sciences and Technology Division, CSIR-National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram, India
2   Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India
,
Kokkuvayil Vasu Radhakrishnan
1   Chemical Sciences and Technology Division, CSIR-National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram, India
2   Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India
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Abstract

A focus on evaluating anticancer potency of various extracts of the heartwood of Calocedrus decurrens against human lung adenocarcinoma (A549) cell line was performed using in vitro MTT assay. The hexane extract displayed excellent cytotoxic effect, and the phytochemical investigation of the hexane and acetone extracts resulted in the isolation of five major compounds. The structure of the compounds was established as libocedrol (1), thymoquinone (2), libocedroquinone (3), diethylphthalate (4), and (1 R, 2 R, 4 R)-p-menthane-1,2,4-triol (5). Compounds 4 and 5 are reported for the first time from the Calocedrus genus. Compounds 1–3 were evaluated for their cytotoxicity against the lung cancer cell line along with a healthy control. Compound 3 was more potent than other compounds against the A549 cell line with an IC50 of 4.8 µM at 24 h. Moreover, compound 3 exhibited less toxicity with the normal lung fibroblast cell line WI-38. This is the first anticancer study of the species Calocedrus decurrens.

Key words

Calocedrus decurrens - Cupressaceae - libocedroquinone - cytotoxicity - lung cancer

Supplementary Material



Publication History

Received: 08 July 2021
Received: 08 October 2021

Accepted: 09 November 2021

Article published online:
07 February 2022

© 2022. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

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