Anticancer Activity of Compounds Isolated from Engelhardtia serrata Stem Bark

Abstract

Two triterpenoid acids, betulinic acid and ursolic acid, were purified from the ethanol extract of Engelhardtia serrata Bl. by bioassay-guided isolation. Their cytotoxic and apoptosis-inducing activities on the K562 cell line were evaluated by MTT and flow cytometric analysis. Betulinic acid and ursolic acid inhibited the growth of K562 tumor cell line with IC₅₀ values of 6.25 and 12.5 μg/ml and also induced 35% and 13% apoptosis at 25 μg/ml, respectively.

Keywords:

• Apoptosis-inducing effect
• betulinic acid
• cytotoxicity
• Engelhardtia serrata
• ursolic acid