THE INDUCTION OF CYTOTOXICITY BY PTEROSTILBENE IN VARIOUS HUMAN CANCER CELL LINES

Pterostilbene is a naturally occurring compound found primarily in blueberries and grapes. It has been found to possess several biological activities such as antioxidative and anti-inflammatory. The study evaluated the cytotoxic activity of pterostilbene in various human cancer cell lines, i.e., melanoma (A2058, C32), colon carcinoma (HT-29, SW1116), breast adenocarcinoma (MCF-7, SKBR3) and ovary adenocarcinoma (SKOV3). The cells were treated with pterostilbene concentrations ranging from 5 to 75 mu M for 72 h. The cytotoxicity of pterostilbene was evaluated using the Sulforhodamine B assay and expressed as a percentage of that of untreated control cells. The concentration of pterostilbene required for 50% reduction of cell viability (IC50) was calculated from log dose-response curves. The results of this study showed that pterostilbene exerted dosedependent cytotoxic effect on cancer cells. Among the all cell lines tested, the C32 melanoma cells were the most sensitive to the cytotoxic effect of pterostilbene (IC50 similar to 10 mu M) and SW1116 colon cancer cells showed the lowest sensitivity (IC50 similar to 70 mu M).