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Planta Med 1991; 57(1): 62-64
DOI: 10.1055/s-2006-960020
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© Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart · New York

In Vitro Cytotoxicity of a Series of Quassinoids from Brucea javanica Fruits Against KB Cells

Margaret M. Anderson1 , Melanie J. O'Neill2 , J. David Phillipson1 , David C. Warhurst3
  • 1Department of Pharmacognosy, The School of Pharmacy, University of London, 29-39 Brunswick Square, London WC1N 1AX, U.K.
  • 2Department of Natural Product Discovery, Glaxo Group Research, Greenford UB6 OHE, U.K.
  • 3Department of Medical Protozoology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London WC1E 7HT, U.K.
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Publication History

1989

Publication Date:
05 January 2007 (online)

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Abstract

A microdilution technique was developed for the assessment of in vitro cytotoxicity against KB cells derived from a human epidermoid carcinoma of the nasopharynx. The test was used to determine the cytotoxicity of a series of quassinoids, isolated from Brucea javanica, and which have previously been shown to demonstrate activity against Plasmodium falciparum. The 50% effective dose (ED50) for 7 quassinoids tested against KB ranged from 0.008 µg/ml for bruceantin, the most cytotoxic of the compounds tested to > 5 µg/ml for bruceolide, the least toxic tested. The activities of the quassinoids against KB did not parallel the known activities of the quassinoids against Plasmodium falciparum suggesting that the quassinoid mode of antimalarial action is not a simple cytotoxic effect and lends support to further investigation of the structure activity relationships within this group of compounds.

Key words

Brucea javanica - Plasmodium falciparum - in vitro cytotoxicity - quassinoids - antimalarial action