In vitro cytotoxic activity of bark extracts from Pinus durangensis Martinez and Quercus sideroxyla Bonpl.

Nowadays, plants bioactive compounds represent a great potential for discovering novel drugs that could act in cancer treatment. Previous word reports that different pine and oak species possess cytotoxic activities against various cancer cell lines. The present study evaluated the phenolic profile and cytotoxic activities of crude and organic extracts from P. durangensis and Q. sideroxyla bark. Among ESI-MS identified compounds in extracts from both species, are taxifolin and procyanidin dimers. The cytotoxic activity was performed on MDA-MB-231 (breast cancer), HeLa (cervix cancer), MCF-10A (breast non-tumorous cell), and HSF-1184 (human skin fibroblast cells) by MTT assay. All extracts showed a dose-dependent cytotoxic effect against cancer cell lines and small or no activity against the non-tumorous cells. The results provide important information about the cytotoxic activity of bark extracts from P. durangensis and Q. sideroxyla. This strong cytotoxic effect represents an opportunity for the valorization of a by-product of the wood industry. Keywords: Bark extracts, cytotoxicity, phenolic profile