In vitro evaluation of antiproliferative and cytotoxic effects of Annona stenophylla (Engl. & Diels), Strophanthus petersianus (Klotzsch), and Synadenium glaucescens (Pax) extracts against MCF-7 breast cancer and Vero cell lines
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Date
2026-06
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Elsevier
Abstract
Breast cancer remains a major global health burden, underscoring the development of safer and more effective
anticancer agents. Medicinal plants represent an important source of bioactive metabolites with potential se-
lective cytotoxicity. This study evaluated the antiproliferative activity and selectivity of extracts from Annona
stenophylla, Strophanthus petersianus, and Synadenium glaucescens against the MCF-7 breast cancer and the Vero
cell lines, with doxorubicin used as a positive control. Root, stem and leaf extracts were obtained through
sequential solvent extraction, and cytotoxic activity was assessed using the MTT assay. IC50 values were deter-
mined to quantify cytotoxicity. Statistical differences among treatments were determined using Tukey’s HSD post
hoc test, and the selectivity index was determined to compare the relative cytotoxicity between cancerous and
non-cancerous cell lines. The RSPE (root ethyl acetate extract of S. petersianus) exhibited the highest anti-
proliferative activity against MCF-7 cells (IC50 = 0.12 μg/mL; p < 0.05), while other extracts from the same plant
produced IC50 values of up to 12.61 μg/mL. In contrast, substantially higher IC50 values were observed in Vero
cells (1.73 to 265.81 μg/mL; p < 0.05), resulting in a high selectivity index of 31.33, 28.40 and 21.08 for SSPM,
SSPE and LSPE (stem methanol, stem ethyl acetate and leaf ethyl acetate extracts S. petersianus), respectively.
A. stenophylla extracts exhibited variable cytotoxicity against MCF-7 (IC50: 3.14 to 37.96 μg/mL; p < 0.05) and
Vero (5.36 to 42.33 μg/mL), yielding moderate selectivity (1<SI<10) to non-selective (SI<1), notably for the
root bark methanol and leaf ethyl acetate extracts (RBASM and LASE). S. glaucescens exhibited weak anti-
proliferative activity against MCF-7 (IC50 > 70 μg/mL), with only SWSGE (stem wood ethyl acetate of
S. glaucescens) exhibiting a statistically signicant effect at tested concentrations of 3.90, 31.30, 15.60 and 125
μg/mL (p < 0.05), but not at 1.90, 31.30 and 62.50 μg/mL. In contrast, the other extracts showed no signicant
difference relative to the control group (p > 0.05) and poor selectivity. Doxorubicin (positive control) exhibited
an IC50 value of 0.30 μg/mL in MCF-7 and 53.69 μg/mL in Vero cells, corresponding to an SI of 178.97.
S. petersianus demonstrated potent and selective antiproliferative activity against MCF-7 cells, highlighting it as a
source for anticancer agents. Further mechanistic and phytochemical investigations are warranted.
Description
Journal Article
Keywords
Plant-derived anticancer agents, Selectivity index, MTT assay, MCF-7 cells, Vero cells, Annona stenophylla, Strophanthus petersianus, Synadenium glaucescens