The College of Pharmacy discussed the MSc thesis entitled “Phytochemical Investigation and Evaluation of the Cytotoxic Potential of Pachypodium lamerei Drake (Family: Apocynaceae) Cultivated in Iraq” by the student Noor Mahmoud Abdul Rasool and the supervisor, Professor Dr. Enas Jawad Kadhem, at the Pharmacognosy and Medicinal Plants Department.
The study aimed to evaluate the phytochemical constituents of Madagascar cactus cultivated in Iraq, assess the cytotoxic activity of its hexane extract against breast cancer cells using a breast cancer cell line. This study is considered one of the first studies to investigate this plant from both phytochemical, pharmacological perspectives.
The study included aerial parts (leaves and stems), fresh roots of Madagascar cactus were collected from the Botanical Garden in Najaf Governorate, Iraq, during April 2025. The plant materials were then dried and ground into a fine powder. Sequential extraction was carried out using a Soxhlet apparatus with solvents of different polarities, starting with defatting using hexane, followed by extraction with 85% aqueous ethanol, subsequent fractionation using chloroform, ethyl acetate, n-butanol. Crude alkaloids were isolated from the plant parts using acid–base extraction, purified to obtain the crude alkaloidal fraction. The active compounds in the extracts were identified using chemical tests, thin-layer chromatography (TLC), high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The hexane extract was analyzed using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The active compounds were isolated using several chromatographic techniques, including CombiFlash chromatography, preparative thin-layer chromatography (PLC), HPLC. The isolated compounds were characterized , identified using TLC, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), HPLC using the spiking method, liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (¹H-NMR). The cytotoxic activity of the hexane extract was evaluated using the MTT assay against the CAL-51 breast cancer cell line at different concentrations for 72 hours, with doxorubicin used as the positive control, followed by assessment of cell viability.
The results showed the isolation of campesterol, scopoletin, luteolin, apigenin, p-coumaric acid, caffeic acid from different extracts using HPLC. Lupeol, beta-sitosterol, Z-9-tetradecenoate were isolated using CombiFlash chromatography. Two alkaloids, reserpine and vindoline, were isolated from the indole alkaloidal fraction using preparative thin-layer chromatography (PLC). All isolated compounds were identified using LC-MS/MS, ¹H-NMR, FTIR, and TLC. The hexane extract exhibited moderate cytotoxic activity against breast cancer cells, with IC₅₀ values of 160.1 µg/mL for the aerial-part extract ,180.3 µg/mL for the root extract, whereas doxorubicin showed an IC₅₀ value of 71.74 µg/mL. The study concluded that the cytotoxic effect of the extract was concentration- and time-dependent.
The study recommended that future research should focus on identifying the remaining unknown chemical compounds, improving extraction methods using advanced techniques, evaluating the pharmacological activity of the ethyl acetate fraction using in vitro and animal models, particularly its anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anticancer, neuroprotective effects.
