<P>Background: Breast cancer and human colon cancer are the most common types of cancer
in females and males, respectively. Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer after lung
and colon cancers. Natural products are an important source for drug discovery. Boesenbergia rotunda
(L.) Mansf. is commonly known as finger root, belonging to the Zingiberaceae family.
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Objective: The aim of this study to isolate some natural compounds from the rhizomes of B. rotunda
(L.) Mansf., and to investigate their cytotoxicity against the human triple-negative breast cancer cell
(MDA-MB-231) and HT-29 colon cancer cell lines.
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Methods: The dried rhizomes of B. rotunda were extracted with methanol. The methanolic extract
was further used for solvent-solvent extraction. Bioassay-guided extraction and isolation of the rhizomes
of the B. rotunda exhibited cytotoxic properties of hexane and dichloromethane fractions.
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Results: Six major chemical constituents, pinostrobin (1), pinostrobin chalcone (2), cardamonin (3),
4,5-dihydrokawain (4), pinocembrin (5), and alpinetin (6) were isolated from the rhizomes of the B.
rotunda. All the chemical constituents were screened against the human triple-negative breast cancer
cell (MDA-MB-231) and HT-29 colon cancer cell lines. The compound cardamonin (3) (IC50 =
5.62±0.61 and 4.44±0.66 µg/mL) and pinostrobin chalcone (2), (IC50 = 20.42±2.23 and 22.51±0.42
μg/mL) were found to be potent natural cytotoxic compounds against MDA-MB-231 and HT-29 colon
cancer cell lines, respectively.
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Conclusion: Cardamonin (3) and pinostrobin chalcone (2) were found to be the most potential natural
compounds against breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231 and colon cancer HT-29 cell line.</P>
Assessing Chemical Constituents of Mimosa caesalpiniifolia Stem Bark: Possible Bioactive Components Accountable for the Cytotoxic Effect of M. caesalpiniifolia on Human Tumour Cell Lines
