Cytotoxic activity and triterpenes content of nine Mexican species of Bursera

Abstract

The genus Bursera (Burseraceae) is considered an interesting source of antitumour compounds. This study aimed to evaluate the cytotoxic activity of the dichloromethane-soluble extracts from the bark of nine Mexican Bursera species. The chemical components of the extracts were determined by NMR and mass spectroscopy, whereas its cytotoxicity was tested using the sulphorhodamine (SRB) method on seven cell lines. Triterpenes and fatty acids were the most abundant components found in the extracts. A quantification by HPTLC – densitometry, showed that the species B. copallifera had the highest content of amyrins (287 µg/mg extract) followed by B. submoniliformis (159.5 µg/mg) and B. bicolor (156.5 µg/mg). Regarding cytotoxicicity, the species B. bicolor caused the highest growth inhibition (>90%) in colon (HCT-15) and lung (SK-LU1) lines; while B. fagaroides, B. grandifolia, B. morelensis, B. bicolor and B. linanoe were active in the SK-LU1cell line.

Graphical Abstract

KEYWORDS:

• Bursera
• pentacyclic triterpenes
• HPTLC
• cytotoxicity

Acknowledgments

The authors are thankful to the following persons José Luis Contreras Jiménez in the species collection and taxonomic identification, Rosalinda Medina Lemos in taxonomic identification, Teresa Ramírez Apan in the cytotoxicity assay and Hortensia Segura Silva for technical assistance.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The authors received financial support from DGAPA-UNAM grant IN-223015.