Cytotoxic Effects of Punicalagin on U87, PANC-1, A549, and 22RV1 Cancer Cell Lines

INTRODUCTION: Cancer is an important public health problem worldwide and a disease that results in the highest number of deaths. Due to the existing drugs for cancer treatment, cumulative mutations, and drug interactions, treatment may fall insufficient. Hence, despite many new therapeutic approaches, there is still a need for more research to discover new molecules for treatment or for increasing drug efficacy. Regarding the development of new anticancer drugs, plant-derived agents stand out for their correlation with cancer. Flavonoids in our daily diet, together with other components like various vitamins, play a key role in the prevention of cancer.
METHODS: The pure punicalagin flavonoid obtained from the pomegranate peel was studied in vitro on cancer cell lines such as U87, PANC-1, A549, 22RV1 and its cytotoxic effect was tested.
RESULTS: It was observed that punicalagin showed cytotoxicity in all of the above-mentioned cancer cells, but was not cytotoxic in 293T human kidney epithelial cells.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: We hope that this study, which shows that Punicalagin has a selective cytotoxic effect, will shed light on other studies to investigate the detailed death mechanism of Punicalagin flavonoid and to be an alternative treatment to cancer treatments.