Ancistrocline: A Naphthyl Isoquinoline Alkaloid from the Leaves of Ancistrocladus Heyneanus; Exhibits Anticancer Property Against PLC/PRF/5 Hepatoma Cells

From the leaves of an Indian species of Ancistrocladus heyneanus, crude extract of mixed Naphthyl Isoquinoline alkaloids were tested against cytotoxicity and anti-cancer activity using MDCK 2 -cells and PLC/PRF/5 -cells. It showed >50% viability of MDCK 2 -cells, at all tried concentrations, showing it to be non-toxic to normal cells. Whereas, response to the viability of PLC/PRF/5 -cells at all concentrations of alkaloid exhibited a decrease in viability with increase in concentration, suggesting anti-cancer property of alkaloids. Since extract from leaves was a mixture of alkaloids, it was thought desirable to separate the alkaloids to see which alkaloid had anti-cancer property. We report anti-cancer property of separated Ancistrocline alkaloid. The alkaloids were separated using TLC, which showed 3-bands. Only middle band of the TLC bands, that has a molecular weight of 421 (as detected by LC/MS) and identified as Ancistrocline by NMR, has exhibited anti-cancer activity against PLC/PRF/5 -cells and was non-cytotoxic against MDCK 2 -cells