Cancer is one of the biggest problems in public health worldwide. Plants have been shown important role in anticancer research. L. (Santalaceae), commonly known as mistletoe, is a semi-parasitic plant that grows on different host trees. In complementary medicine, extracts from European mistletoe ( L.) have been used in the treatment of cancer. The study was conducted to identify chemical composition and antitumor potential of tinctures. Chemical analysis performed by high resolution chromatography equipped with high resolution mass spectrometer identified caffeic acid, chlorogenic acid, sakuranetin, isosakuranetin, syringenin 4-O-glucoside, syringenin 4-O-apiosyl-glucoside, alangilignoside C and ligalbumoside A compounds. Some of these compounds are probably responsible for the reduction of tumoral cellular growth in a dose-dependent manner. It was observed that melanoma murine cells (B16F10) were more sensitive to tinctures than human leukaemic cells (K562), besides non-tumoral cells (MA-104) had a much lower cytotoxicity to them. Apoptotic-like cells were observed under light microscopy and were confirmed by a typical DNA fragmentation pattern. Additionally, flow cytometry results using Annexin-V/FITC permitted to quantify increased expression of early and late apoptotic markers on tumoral cells, confirming augmented Sub G0 population, which was probably associated with a consistent decrease in G1, and an increase in S or G2/M populations. Results indicate the chemical composition of tinctures influences the mechanisms of tumoral cell death, suggesting a potential use in cancer pharmacotherapy research.
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