Glioblastoma is an aggressive type of cancer that accounts for about 50% of all malignant tumors of the CNS. Hydroxy derivatives of cinnamic acid have promising antitumor properties. Taraxacum officinale F.H. Wigg (TO) is an important source of cinnamic acid hydroxy derivatives.
The aim of the study was to evaluate the antitumor activity of TO extracts on U-138 MG cells and correlate this activity with the concentration of chicoric (ChA), chlorogenic (CGA), and cafftaric (CA) acids (mg/mL) in the extract.
TO dry leaves were extracted with DMSO and ethanol of different concentrations (20%, 50%, 80%). The filtrates of TO were dried and weighted for dried mass content calculation, which was reported per Liter. The concentration of acids was determined by liquid chromatograph (Agilent 1260 with diode array detector). The viability of U-138 MG glioblastoma cells (Cell Lines Service, Germany) was assessed using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide test (% of viable cells). The activity of TO was compared with that of doxorubicin.
All studied TO extracts suppressed the viability of U-138 MG glioblastoma cells. The best antitumor activity was shown by TO extracts prepared with DMSO (110.000 µg/L – 17.3±8%, that contained ChA – 8976x10-6 mg/mL, CGA – 316.8 x10-6 mg/mL, CA – 1628 x10-6 mg/mL), with 50% ethanol (150.000 µg/L – 13.7±3.2%, that contained ChA – 52.500 x10-6 mg/mL, CGA – 1746 x10-6 mg/mL, CA – 8460 x10-6 mg/mL) and with 80% ethanol (40.000 µg/L – 16.1±9%, that contained ChA – 904 x10-6 mg/mL, CGA – 114.4 x10-6 mg/mL, CA – 70.4 x10-6 mg/mL). TO extracts activity was close to that of doxorubicin, which reduced the viability of U-138 MG cells to 8.64±1.65% at the concentration of 54.350 µg/L and to 15.32±0.86% at the concentration of 105 µg/L.
The results obtained allow us to conclude that Taraxacum officinale significantly suppresses the viability of glioblastoma cells. This activity depends on the type of extractant and its concentration, as well as on the content of cinnamic acids and their ratio.
