ABSTRACT
Mansoa hymenaea (DC.) A.H. Gentry is used in traditional medicine to treat pain, arthritis, and rheumatoid disease. It has also been demonstrated that species belonging to the Mansoa genus exert cytotoxic activity. Despite this data, biological properties and phytochemistry of M. hymenaea remain poorly understood. Therefore, we determined the metabolite profile of the methanolic extract of M. hymenaea leaves and evaluated its anti-inflammatory, antinociceptive, and cytotoxic activity. Phytochemical analysis was carried out by conventional methods and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Anti-inflammatory and antinociceptive effects were assessed in the TPA‑induced ear edema model and acetic acid-induced writhing test, respectively. Cytotoxic activity was determined in vitro against SW-620, MDA-MB231, SiHa, SKLU1, and PC-3 cancer cell lines. The results revealed that M. hymenaea methanolic extract at 2 mg/ear reduced inflammation significantly (p ≤ 0.05) by 50.4 ± 5.9 %, and decreased visceral pain with an effective dose 50 (ED50) of 148.9 ± 14.1 mg kg−1. Moreover, M. hymenaea exerted cytotoxic activity against the breast carcinoma cell line (MDA-MB231) with IC50 = 125.8 ± 16.7 µg mL−1. Chemical analyses revealed that M. hymenaea methanolic extract contained alkaloids, glycosides, tannins, sterols, and saponins. Likewise, trans-13-octadecenoic acid, n-hexadecanoic acid, diallyl disulfide, diallyl trisulfide, β-sitosterol, methyl ursolate, stigmasterol, and phytol were detected by CG-MS in the M. hymenaea methanolic extract. These compounds were previously reported with anti-inflammatory, antinociceptive, or cytotoxic effects. Therefore, the methanolic extract of M. hymenaea leaves is a good source of natural compounds with anti-inflammatory, antinociceptive, and cytotoxic properties.
Graphical abstract
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Acknowledgments
The authors thank Dr. Eleazar Carranza-González, responsible and curator of “Isidro Palacios” Herbarium of the Autonomous University of San Luis Potosí, for their support for the identification of the plant. Gisela Adelina Rolón-Cárdenas (CVU 712240) thanks CONACYT-Mexico for the financial support given to carry out her Ph.D. studies.
Disclosure statement
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Author contributions
AHM conceived the study, examined the data, and wrote the manuscript. AJAC participated in the pharmacological experiments and the manuscript review. JLAG designed the molecular strategy for plant identification, analyzed data, and participated in the manuscript writing. JVM and JMT performed the GC-MS analysis. GARC, GVBC contributed to the molecular identification of the plant and construction of the phylogenetic tree. CCA participated in the preparation of plant extract. All authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript.