380008

Evaluation of in-vitro Anticancer Activity of Vernonia leopoldii (Sch. Blip.) Methanolic Extract on HepG2 Human Cancer Cells, relative to its Phytochemical Contents determined by

Article

Last updated: 29 Mar 2025

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Tags

Pharmaceutical Chemistry

Abstract

Plants in the Genus Vernonia family (Asteraceae) contain physiologically active chemicals, making them ideal for discovering and developing anticancer medicines. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), one of the most recognized cancers in the world, is on the rise, with a high mortality rate and a dismal prognosis. As a result, the treatment of HCC remains a splendid challenge. We aimed in this study to assess the cytotoxic activity of Vernonia leopoldii extracts in the HepG2 cell line. By extractions of V. leopoldii aerial parts from Yemen were collected, and the SRB assay was used to evaluate their cytotoxicity against liver cancer cell line (HepG2) and normal liver cell line (BNL), calculating the half-maximal growth inhibitory concentration. Metabolite profiling of the total methanolic extract of V. leopoldii was carried out for the first-time using LC-MS/MS in positive mode to investigate its chemical composition. Moreover, flow cytometry analysis was used to quantify the cell cycle arrest, apoptotic/necrotic, and autophagic cell death in the treated HepG2 cancer cells. A scratch assay was performed to examine the effect of the methanolic extract on HepG2 cell migration. We found MeOH extract was more cytotoxic against HepG2 cells (IC50= 9.2 ± 0.88 µg/mL) compared to methanol/water extract (IC50 > 100 µg/mL), with less cytotoxicity in BNL cells (IC50 = 85.9 ± 2.3 µg/mL). The LC-MS/MS analysis of MeOH extract tentatively identified thirty-five chemical compounds, including one anthocyanin glycoside, eight flavones, one flavanone, five flavonol glycosides, two furanocoumarins, four phenolic acids, one sesquiterpene ester, and thirteen sesquiterpene lactones. The MeOH extract induced G2/M cell cycle arrest along with apoptotic and autophagic cell death in HepG2 cells. Moreover, this extract inhibited HepG2 migration, as shown in the scratch healing assay. These findings provide interesting new information about how V. leopoldii induces apoptotic/autophagic, anti-migratory, and anti-proliferative cell death in HepG2 cells, which may be able to lessen the aggressiveness of HCC.

DOI

10.21608/ejchem.2024.309438.10138

Keywords

Vernonia leopoldii, metabolomics, apoptosis, Wound healing, Migration, HepG2 cell line, Cytotoxicity

Authors

First Name

Helmi

Last Name

Mokbel

MiddleName

Ahmed Qassm

Affiliation

Pharmacognosy, Pharmacy, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt

Email

helmi20002000@yahoo.com

City

Cairo

Orcid

0009000354446470

First Name

Seham

Last Name

El Hawary

MiddleName

Salah El Dine

Affiliation

Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Cairo University

Email

seham.elhawary@pharma.cu.edu.eg

City

Cairo

Orcid

0000-0002-6823-1142

First Name

Rasha

Last Name

Allam

MiddleName

Mosa

Affiliation

Pharmacology Department, Medical and Clinical Research Institute, National Research Centre, Dokki, Cairo, 12622, Egypt.

Email

rasha.allam@nawah-scientific.com

City

Cairo

Orcid

-

First Name

Ahmed

Last Name

Eldesoky

MiddleName

Hamed

Affiliation

National Research Centre Pharmacognosy Natural Product Chemistry

Email

wasseif@yahoo.com

City

Cairo

Orcid

0000-0002-7770-9793

First Name

Amira

Last Name

El motayam

MiddleName

kamal

Affiliation

Pharmacognosy Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Cairo University, Kasr El-Ainy Street

Email

amira.kamal@pharma.cu.edu.eg

City

Cairo

Orcid

-

First Name

Ali

Last Name

El-Halawany

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Pharmacognosy department, Faculty of Pharmacy-Cairo University

Email

ali.elhalawany@pharma.cu.edu.eg

City

Cairo

Orcid

-

Volume

68

Article Issue

5

Related Issue

54251

Issue Date

2025-05-01

Receive Date

2024-08-04

Publish Date

2025-05-01

Page Start

351

Page End

370

Print ISSN

0449-2285

Online ISSN

2357-0245

Link

https://ejchem.journals.ekb.eg/article_380008.html

Detail API

http://journals.ekb.eg?_action=service&article_code=380008

Order

380,008

Type

Original Article

Type Code

297

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

Egyptian Journal of Chemistry

Publication Link

https://ejchem.journals.ekb.eg/

MainTitle

Evaluation of in-vitro Anticancer Activity of Vernonia leopoldii (Sch. Blip.) Methanolic Extract on HepG2 Human Cancer Cells, relative to its Phytochemical Contents determined by

Details

Type

Article

Created At

29 Mar 2025