Descrição
The vast structural diversity of natural compounds found in plants provides unique opportunities for
discovering new drugs with possible beneficial effects on human health, including regulation of
proliferation and cell death pathways leading to cancer [1]. Crataegus monogyna Jacq. has been
studied by our research group to confirm its different alleged health benefits [2-4]. Herein, the
antiproliferative activity of phenolic extracts from C. monogyna flower buds was evaluated on four
different human tumor cell lines: HeLa, cervical carcinoma; HepG2, hepatocellular carcinoma;
MCF-7, breast adenocarcinoma; NCI-H460, non-small cell lung cancer. The antiproliferative
activity was measured by calculating Gl50 values (50% of cell growth inhibition) for each cell line,
according to the procedure adopted by the National Cancer Institute for in vitro anticancer drug
screening, which uses sulforhodamine B assay to assess cell groW1h inhibition [5]. The obtained
antiproliferative activity was very similar among the assayed cell lines: HeLa, Gl50 = 63.55±3.56
μg/ml; HepG2, Gl50 = 88.45±8.11 μg/ml; MCF7, Gl50 = 66.96±0.01 μg/ml ; NCI -H460, Gl50 =
67.61±4.29 μg/ml. The lower activity against HepG2 cells might be related with the type of
proliferation of this cell line, the only one with a monolayer growth type among the assayed lines .
The activity demonstrated by the phenolic extract of C. monogyna might be explained by their
high amounts in flavonoids, which are known for modulating a variety of biological events
associated with cancer progression and development, such as cell proliferation, apoptosis, cell
differentiation and neovascularization [3]. Accordingly, C. monogyna may be considered as a source of important phytochemicals with bioactive properties to be explored for pharmaceutical applications.
; Abreu, Rui M.V. 
