A New Glucosyl Flavone with Inhibitory Activity of Cancer Cell Viability and Other Bioactive Constituents from the Traditional Kurdish Plant Plantago loeflingii L

Our plain-English summary of A New Glucosyl Flavone with Inhibitory Activity of Cancer Cell Viability and Other Bioactive Constituents from the Traditional Kurdish Plant Plantago loeflingii L, by H.I.M. Amin, K.Y.M. Amin, C. Armijos, et al (Molecules, 2024).

The study

• Authors: H.I.M. Amin, K.Y.M. Amin, C. Armijos, F.H.S. Hussain, Z.H. Jawhar, D. Caprioglio, M. Mella, G. Vidari
• Journal: Molecules
• Published: 2024;29(5)
• Cited by: 2 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

Abstract

A new glucosyl flavone, 5,7,2',5'-tetrahydroxyflavone 7-O-β-d-glucopyranoside, named loeflingiin, together with apigenin 6-C-glucoside (isovitexin), coumarins citropten and isompinellin, triterpenoids betulin and betulinic acid, and a mixture of phytosterols β-sitosterol, stigmasterol and campesterol were isolated for the first time from the leaves of wild Plantago loeflingii L. (Plantaginaceae) collected in the Iraqi Kurdistan region. The plant is used by local people to treat wounds and as a vulnerary remedy. The structures of isolated compounds were determined by spectroscopic analysis. The activities of isovitexin and loeflingiinon the viability of breast (MCF7), ovarian (BG-1), endometrial (Ishikawa), and mesothelioma (IST-MES1) human cancer cells and two normal cell lines were determined with an MTT assay. Notably, the new 7-O-glucosyl flavone showed effects higher than cisplatin against the Ishikawa and IST-MESI cell lines. The significant biological activities exhibited by all the compounds isolated from P. loeflingii provided scientific evidence to support the use of the plant in the Kurdish traditional medicine.

In plain English

This laboratory study examined chemicals in Plantago loeflingii, a wild plant used in Iraqi Kurdistan to heal wounds; it did not study asbestos. The authors isolated nine compounds, including a new flavonoid named loeflingiin, from leaves collected in April 2021. They tested loeflingiin and isovitexin with an MTT assay, which measures how many cells stay metabolically active. The cells were four human cancer lines (breast MCF7, ovarian BG-1, endometrial Ishikawa, mesothelioma IST-MES1) and two normal human cell types, with the cancer drug cisplatin as comparison. Results were means of three assays with standard deviations. The loeflingiin concentration halving cell viability (lower means stronger) was 17 ± 2, 13 ± 3, 4 ± 0.3 and 6 ± 0.5 micromolar for MCF7, IST-MES1, BG-1 and Ishikawa cells; for cisplatin it was 17 ± 4, 10 ± 3, 12 ± 3 and 12 ± 2. For both normal cell types, this loeflingiin concentration was above 40 micromolar. Isovitexin was inactive on all cells. The authors concluded loeflingiin's effects were higher than cisplatin's against Ishikawa and BG-1 cells, and called for further study of how it works.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Laboratory study: plant chemistry (isolation and identification of compounds) plus cell-culture viability tests (MTT assay)
• Who was studied: Leaves of wild Plantago loeflingii collected in April 2021 in the Zrarati district, Kurdistan region of Iraq. Compounds were tested on four human cancer cell lines (breast MCF7, ovarian BG-1, endometrial Ishikawa, mesothelioma IST-MES1) and two normal human cell types (peripheral blood mononuclear cells and human umbilical vein endothelial cells).
• Exposure: No asbestos exposure was studied. Cells were treated for 48 hours with loeflingiin, isovitexin, or cisplatin (the comparison drug) at eight concentrations from 0.1 to 125 micromolar.
• Main results:
  • IC50 values were calculated as the means of three MTT assays for each cell line and are reported as mean plus or minus standard deviation.
  • Loeflingiin concentrations reducing viability by 50% (IC50, micromolar, plus or minus SD): MCF7 17 ± 2, IST-MES1 13 ± 3, BG-1 4 ± 0.3, Ishikawa 6 ± 0.5. For the normal endothelial cells (HUVE) and normal blood cells (PBM), the IC50 was above 40 micromolar for each.
  • Cisplatin IC50 values (micromolar, plus or minus SD): MCF7 17 ± 4, IST-MES1 10 ± 3, BG-1 12 ± 3, Ishikawa 12 ± 2. Cisplatin was not reported for the normal cells.
  • Isovitexin was inactive on all cell lines, with IC50 above 50 micromolar in every line.
  • The authors described loeflingiin's activity as significantly higher than cisplatin's against the Ishikawa and BG-1 cells.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that loeflingiin's effects were higher than cisplatin's against Ishikawa and BG-1 cells. They also concluded that this activity, together with known properties of the other isolated compounds, gives scientific evidence for the plant's traditional uses in Kurdistan.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The authors state that further studies are needed to explain how loeflingiin affects cancer cells.
  • The authors state that the effects on cancer cells compared with normal cells remain to be investigated.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Mesothelioma, Cisplatin.

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