Phytochemistry and Anticancer Effects of Mangrove ( Rhizophora mucronata Lam.) Leaves and Stems Extract against Different Cancer Cell Lines.

The biologically active components of the methanol extracts of R. mucronata were identified using GC/MS. The anticancer effects of each methanol extract from the leaves and stem were evaluated against cancer and non-cancer cell lines. The MTT assay was used in order to evaluate cell viability, and the IC 50 and the selectivity indices were calculated in relation to a positive control (doxorubicin). The results showed that 11 and 8 different chemical compounds were found in the methanol extracts from the leaves and stems of R. mucronata , respectively. The active constituents of R. mucronata leaves and stems had anticancer effects against colon cancer (CaCo-2), with IC 50 levels of 127 ± 4 μg/mL and 107 ± 6 μg/mL, respectively, and on breast cancer (MCF-7), with IC 50 levels of 158 ± 10 μg/mL and 138 ± 4 μg/mL, respectively. These were both greater than their effects on prostate cancer (PC-3), for which they showed IC 50 levels of 480 ± 14 μg/mL and 294 ± 3 μg/mL, respectively. However, the anticancer effect of the stems on lung cancer (A549) (IC 50 = 155 ± 10 μg/mL) was greater than that of the leaves (IC 50 = 376 ± 9 μg/mL) in comparison with doxorubicin. Neither the stems nor the leaves of R. mucronata showed any cytotoxicity against normal cells (WI-38), with the IC 50 being 932 ± 30 μg/mL for the leaves and 629 ± 3 μg/mL for the stems.