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Antitumor activity ofTrichosanthes kirilowii

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Abstract

The activity-directed fractionation upon the MeOH extract of the root ofTrichosanthes kirilowii led to the isolation of eight cucurbitane triterpenes namely cucurbitacin B (I), isocucurbitacin B (II), cucurbitacin D (III), isocucurbitacin D (IV), 3-epi-isocucurbitacin B (V), dihydrocucurbitacin B (VI), dihydroisocucurbitacin B (VII) and dihydrocucurbitacin E (VIII), as active principles. All isolates were shown to exhibit significant cytotoxicity against cultured human tumor cells, including A-549, SK-OV-3, SK-MEL-2, XF-498 and HCT 15, with an exceptionally high potency.

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Ryu, S.Y., Lee, S.H., Choi, S.U. et al. Antitumor activity ofTrichosanthes kirilowii . Arch. Pharm. Res. 17, 348–353 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02974175

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