Evaluation of citotoxic activity of Byrsonima pachyphylla A. Juss. in tumor cell lines

• Grant number: 12/00745-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: April 01, 2012
• End date: March 31, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Pharmacy - Pharmacognosy
• Principal Investigator: André Gonzaga dos Santos
• Grantee: Isabela Jacob Moro
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas (FCFAR). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Araraquara. Araraquara , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Byrsonima pachyphylla A. Juss. (Malpighiaceae) is a plant species from Brazil that have no chemical or pharmacological data published in the scientific literature. Preliminary cytotoxicity tests performed by our research group demonstrated that the methanolic extract from B. pachyphylla presented citotoxic activity against tumor cell line Hepa c1c7. The same extract was not citotoxic against the normal cell line MRC-5. Considering these results and the importance of natural products in anticancer drug development, we intend to develop this project to evaluate the cytotoxicity of the extract, fractions and purified compounds from B. pachyphylla in tumor cell lines, using the strategy of bioassay-guided fractionation in order to identify substances or classes of substances with potential use as anticancer drugs.