Abstract
BACKGROUND: Annona muricata, commonly known as Graviola, soursop or guanabana, is an evergreen tree native to the tropics with a long history of use in ethnomedicine in indigenous communities in Africa and South America. Its active phytoconstituents have provided medicinal benefits against various ailments and diseases such as arthritis, parasitic infection, hypertension, fever, or diabetes. Studies conducted in vitro and in vivo have concluded that Graviola phytocomponents have anti-cancer and anti-tumor properties. One of the characteristics of cancer cells is their uncontrolled proliferation rate. In that sense, molecules that inhibit cell proliferation offer potential therapeutical benefits. METHODS: We prepared ethanolic and aqueous extracts from dried Graviola leaves and tested their respective antiproliferative activities on tongue Squamous Cell Carcinoma cell line-25. We treated the cells with increasing concentrations of the extracts for 24 h. The respective doses leading to a 50% inhibition of cells growth (GI(50)) were determined. RESULTS: Our results showed that the ethanolic extract was 4 times more active in inhibiting the growth of Squamous Cell Carcinoma cell line-25 than the aqueous extract (respective GI(50) of 61.7 μg/mL, and 274.6 μg/mL). CONCLUSION: We hypothesize that some organic compounds involved in the antiproliferative/cytotoxicity of Graviola leaves were selectively extracted by Ethanol. Future plans include characterizing those bioactive compounds and assessing their activity on Squamous Cell Carcinoma cell line-25 vs. non-cancerous oral cells. Our hope is to discover natural molecules to be used as alternative treatments for oral Squamous Cell Carcinomas.