Volume 15, Issue 35, January - June, 2021

A pimarane diterpene from Juniper servaschanica inhibits growth of Ovarian and Breast Cancer Cells

Sadri Abdullah Said^1♦, Yahya Tamimi², Afaf Mohd Weli¹, Md Sohail Akhtar¹

¹School of Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy and Nursing, University of Nizwa, Oman
²Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman

^♦Corresponding author
Sadri Abdullah Said, School of Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy and Nursing, University of Nizwa, PB 33, PC 616, Nizwa, Oman Tel +968 2544 6423, email: sadri@unizwa.edu.om

ABSTRACT

In our ongoing search for anticancer compounds from natural products we chromatographed cytotoxic active extracts from medicinal plants growing in Omanin order to isolate their active ingredients. We hereby report isolation of a cytotoxic pimarane diterpenoid, 3-hydroxy-ent-pimara8(14),15-dien-19-oic acid (1) from hexane extract of Juniperus servaschanica collected from Oman. The anticancer property was evaluated against ovarian (MCAS) and breast (MDA MB231) cancer cell lines by Alamar-blue assay. Compound 1 was active against both ovarian and breast cancer cells (IC50 = 24.16 and 16.13 µg/ml, respectively). Additionally, the molecule showed little damaging effect against non-cancerous cells, fibroblast at its IC50 dosage. Further investigation on this metabolite and its derivatives might lead to discovery of new chemical entities for control of cancer.

Keywords: Juniperus servaschanica, Cupressaceae, diterpenes; ent-pimaradiene, anticancer

Drug Discovery, 2021, 15(35), 1-5

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