Two salonitenolide derivatives from the aerial parts of Centaurea gigantea inhibit the growth of colorectal cancer cells in vitro

Abstract

The cytotoxic activity of two salonitenolide derivatives, 8-O-(3-hydroxy-2-methylpropanoyl)-salonitenolide (or arctiopicrin, 1) and 8-O-(4-hydroxy-3-methylbutanoyl)-salonitenolide (2), isolated and identified from the methanol extract of the aerial parts of Centaurea gigantea, was assessed by the MTT cytotoxicity assay using the colon cancer cell line, CaCo-2. The IC50 values for 1 and 2 were found to be 8.5 and 26.4 pM, respectively.