PNS014 Cytotoxicity of natural chemicals against normal and tumor cell lines

Abstract

More recently there has been observed an increased number of scientific studies with medicinal plants in search of bioactive molecules to be used in the development of new drugs. Plant species are sources of a great diversity of natural chemicals with various pharmacological activities. In this context the discovery of new antineoplastics, has been the aim of innumerable research groups using medicinal plants as source of drugs. The effective results obtained from studies using the species Catharanthus roseus and Podophyllum peltatum that produce the antineoplastic secondary metabolites vinblastine, vincristine and etoposide, respectively, motivated us to investigate the efficacy of the triterpenes betulinic acid, oleanolic acid and ursolic acid synthesized in Jacaranda decurrens, a species endemic to the Brazilian Cerrado region.