Anticancer Active Homoisoflavone from the Underground Bulbs of Ledebouria hyderabadensis.

BACKGROUND: Ledebouria is a genus of deciduous or weakly evergreen bulbs in the Hyacinthaceae family. This is recognized as the first collection made of the new taxon Ledebouria hyderabadensis, exist in the Hyderabad city of Andhra Pradesh, India.

OBJECTIVE: The goal of this work was to investigate the phytochemical constituents present in the new specifies and also to evaluate the cytotoxic properties of the extracts and pure compounds against human cancer cell lines.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: The anticancer activity was evaluated in in vitro mode by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) test.

RESULTS: Phytochemical investigation of underground bulbs of indigenous, rare, and recently identified herb L. hyderabadensis yielded a bioactive homoisoflavanone, Scillascillin 1. The structure of the compound was established on the basis of various nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectral data. The compound Scillascillin was isolated for the first time from L. hyderabadensis. In vitro anticancer activity, performed using MTT assay, showed compound 1 as significantly active against human cancer cell lines MCF-7 (breast cancer) and DU-145 (prostate cancer) with inhibitory concentration (IC)50 values 9.59 and 11.32 μg/ml respectively when compared with herb methanol extract (IC50 values 36.21 and 44.86 μg/ml respectively).