A new microplate assay for cytotoxicity testing using A. salina has been developed and shown to give results comparable to a previously published test-tube method. The assay reliably detected all of the compounds toxic to KB cells in a series of 21 pharmacologically active agents, except for two which require metabolic activation in man. Four quassinoids with cytotoxic and antiplasmodial activity were also toxic to the brine shrimp while quassin itself was inactive in all three systems. It is proposed that this assay provides a convenient means by which the presence of cytotoxic quassinoids may be detected during the fractionation of plant extracts.
Bioassay-guided fractionation of the methanolic extracts of Vismia baccifera, V. jefensis, and V. macrophylla against human breast, CNS, and lung cancer cell lines resulted in the isolation of a new compound, ferruginin C (1), and seven known compounds, ferruginins A (2) and B (3), vismin (4), harunganin (5), vismione B (6), deacetylvismione H (7), and deacetylvismione A (8), as active constituents. In addition, bivismiaquinone (9) and vismiaquinone (10) were obtained as inactive constituents. The structure of ferruginin C was elucidated by spectroscopic means. Compounds 6-8 were the most active, and the cytotoxic activity of compounds 2-5 and 7 is reported for the first time.
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