Cytotoxic and Antioxidant Potential of Chloroform Extract of Holothuria tubulosa Gmelin, 1791

Abstract

Abstract: Natural products are promising anticancer agents and antioxidants. The present study was aimed to evaluate the cytotoxic and antioxidant potential and the contents of phenolic compounds of a chloroform extract from Holothuria tubulosa collected from the Gökova Gulf (Muğla, Turkey) for the first time. Cell viability was assessed by the MTT assay. Apoptotic cell death was analyzed by flow cytometry. The antioxidant activity of the extract was determined by the DPPH radical scavenging activity assay, the ABTS radical cation scavenging activity assay, the β-carotene-linoleic acid and FRAP assays and by the phosphomolybdenum method. Total flavonoid and tannin contents in the extract were investigated. Also, the phenolic compounds of the extract were detected by HPLC. The extract showed the potential cytotoxic effect against cancer cells and was capable of inducing apoptosis in A549 and HeLa cells. Overall, the antioxidant capacity of the extract may be evaluated as low. The phenolic compound content of the extract was also found to be low. The most abundant component in the extract was ellagic acid (482.293 μg/g extract) according to the HPLC analysis. Our results may contribute to further studies on the use of H. tubulosa for obtaining new anticancer and other therapeutic agents.