Abstract:
Eurycoma longifolia Jack is one of traditional herbal medicines in
South-East Asia. This study evaluated the anticancer, cell-cycle
arrest, and apoptotic induction potentials of eurycomanone
(EONE) and eurycomanol (EOL), highly oxygenated quassinoids
previously isolated from its roots, against large (H460) and small
(A549) lung cancer cells. EOL and EONE exhibited IC50 of 386 and
424 mg/mL on normal human lung cell line. EONE exhibited
higher anticancer activity with an IC50 of 1.78 mg/mL and
20.66 lg/mL than EOL which exhibited an IC50 of 3.22 mg/mL and
38.05 mg/mL against H460 and A549, respectively. Both reduced
the viability of H460 and A549 and arrested G0/G1 phase. The
increase in the apoptotic rates was mainly in the percentage of
late apoptosis. Moreover, they inhibited A549 by inducing the
accumulation of S and G2/M phases. This study revealed EOL and
EONE potential as novel leads exhibiting cell-cycle arrest and
apoptosis induction potentials.
