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Antioxidant activity and inhibition effect on the growth of human colon carcinoma (HT-29) cells of esculetin from Cortex Fraxini

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Abstract

Esculetin was isolated from Cortex fraxini and identified by UV, IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR. Its antioxidant properties were investigated employing various in vitro assays, such as 2,2′-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay, hydroxyl radical scavenging assay in a new resonance scattering (RS) method, reducing power and total antioxidant assay. Esculetin showed excellent antioxidant properties superior to synthetic antioxidant butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT). Subsequently, inhibition effect of esculetin on human colon carcinoma (HT-29) cells proliferation was measured by thymidine incorporation assay. HT-29 cell number was decreasing with increasing concentration of esculetin at the lower concentrations of 0.25, 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 mg/ml, compared to the positive control and HT-29 cells were stimulated in response to treatment with esculetin which decreases in a dose-dependent manner. However, at the higher concentrations of 4.0, 8.0, 12.0 and 16.0 mg/ml, growth of HT-29 cells were inhibited in a concentration-dependent fashion.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by 973 project (2009CB526503), National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 30460153 and 20762001), Guangxi Natural Science Foundation of China (0832024 and 2010GXNSFF013001), Guangxi’s Medicine Talented Persons Small Highland Foundation (0808), and Guangxi Department of Education research project (200807MS076, 200911MS282).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory for the Chemistry and Molecular Engineering of Medicinal Resources (Ministry of Education of China), School of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin, 541004, People’s Republic of China

    Kai Wang, Hengshan Wang & Yingming Pan

  2. Department of Material and Chemical Engineering, Guilin Institute of Technology, Guilin, 541001, People’s Republic of China

    Kai Wang, Ye Zhang, Xianghui Yi & Xianxian Liu

  3. Microbial Molecular Genetics, Cancer and Phytonutriceuticals Research Laboratory, Jackson State University, Jackson, MS, 39217, USA

    S. I. N. Ekunwe

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  1. Kai Wang
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  2. Ye Zhang
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  3. S. I. N. Ekunwe
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  4. Xianghui Yi
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  5. Xianxian Liu
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  6. Hengshan Wang
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  7. Yingming Pan
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Correspondence to Yingming Pan.

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Wang, K., Zhang, Y., Ekunwe, S.I.N. et al. Antioxidant activity and inhibition effect on the growth of human colon carcinoma (HT-29) cells of esculetin from Cortex Fraxini . Med Chem Res 20, 968–974 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00044-010-9426-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00044-010-9426-y

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