Open Access

ARTICLE

Fractions of a chloroform extract of ajenjo leaves (Artemisia mendozana DC. var. mendozana) inhibit the proliferation, viability and clonogenicity of B16-F0 melanoma cells

MARÍA ELISA MILLÁN¹, MARÍA FERNANDA MARRA¹, LEONARDO ANDRÉS SALVARREDI^1,2,3, EMILIO FERNANDO LIZARRAGA^4,*, LUIS ALBERTO LOPEZ^1,*

1 Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina
2 Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica, Buenos Aires, Argentina
3 Fundación Escuela de Medicina Nuclear, Mendoza, Argentina
4 Fundación Miguel Lillo y Universidad Nacional de Tucumán, San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina

* Address correspondence to: Emilio Lizarraga, ; Luis Alberto Lopez,

BIOCELL 2020, 44(3), 293-299. https://doi.org/10.32604/biocell.2020.012342

Received 17 September 2019; Accepted 28 June 2020; Issue published 22 September 2020

Abstract

The ajenjo, Artemisia mendozana DC. var. mendozana (Asteraceae), grows in the Andean foothills of Mendoza and San Juan, Argentina, and is used as a medicinal plant for its antispasmodic and antifungal properties. The aim of this work was to obtain fractions of a chloroform extract of ajenjo leaves and to evaluate the in vitro effects on proliferation, viability and clonogenicity of B16-F0 melanoma cells. Using a silica gel chromatography column, 120 fractions were collected and grouped according to the chromatographic profile in 9 main fractions (F1–F9). Their major compounds identified were: terpenes (F1), terpenes and sesquiterpene lactones (F2–F3), sesquiterpenes (F4–F6) and phenols and sesquiterpenes (F7-9). B16-F0 cells were incubated for 72 h with DMSO (vehicle) or 0.1 mg/ml F1–F9. At 72 h of culture, F1 decreased both the growing index (GI) and cell viability. F2 and F3 both decreased GI and only F3 decreased clonogenic activity. F4 and F5 both decreased GI. Only F5 decreased cell viability and F4 decreased clonogenicity. Consequently, fractions F6–F8 did not affect any of the cell parameters assayed, while F9 decreased cell viability and inhibited clonogenicity.

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