Cytotoxic Activities of Acetogenins from Annona dioica Roots

Abstract

Phytochemical investigation of the chloroformic extract of the roots of Annona dioica (Annonaceae) led to the first time to the isolation of acetogenins in this plant. Their structure were identified as known motrilin (1), squamocin (2), cherimolin-1 (3), isocherimolin-1 (4), annonacin (5) and isoannonacin (6) on the basis of spectroscopic (NMR) and spectrometric (MS) analyses. All the compounds were evaluated against human tumor cell and human non-tumor cells. The Annonaceous acetogenins 2, 3 and 5 showed significant in vitro cytotoxicity toward U-937 (histiocytic lymphoma).