Cotinus coggygria from Ibar valley (Serbia): safe for the treatment of colorectal cancer or not?
摘要
This study aimed to investigate safety of the use of Cotinus coggygria from the Ibar valley region (Serbia) in traditional medicine for the treatment of colorectal cancer. The phytochemical and antioxidant properties of methanol extracts from leaves and branches (MEL and MEB) and water extracts from leaves and branches (WEL and WEB) were assessed, including their cytotoxic activity on the human colorectal cancer cell line HCT-116 and the healthy human lung fibroblast cell line MRC-5. The results indicated that naringin is the dominant phenolic compound in MEL (49.00 ± 1.00 μg mL−1), WEL (29.40 ± 0.70 μg mL−1), and WEB (15.10 ± 0.70 μg mL−1). MEL and WEL exhibited the strongest antioxidant capacity and reducing power, whereas MEB and WEB showed the highest free radical scavenging activity. Although WEL showed remarkable anticancer activity against HCT-116 cells (IC₅₀ = 9.12 µg mL−1/24 h and 11.14 µg mL−1/48 h), its cytotoxic effect was not selective, affecting MRC-5 cells at similar concentrations (IC₅₀ = 5.96 µg mL−1/24 h and 4.79 µg mL−1/48 h). These results suggest that the traditional use of Cotinus coggygria, collected during the summer from the Ibar valley region, may not be safe for colorectal cancer treatment due to its non-selective cytotoxicity.
Graphical abstract