Cytotoxic effect of methanolic extract from Pongamia pinnata (linn.) bark against MDA-MB-231 breast adenocarcinoma cell line

Abstract

Pongamia pinnata, known as Bani, is a leguminous plant used in Philippine and Indian traditional medicine for the treatment of cancers. Methanolic extracts of Pongamia pinnata bark were tested on the MDA-MB-231 breast adenocarcinoma cell line at concentrations of 0.1 µg/mL, 1 µg/mL, 10 µg/mL, 100 µg/mL, and 1000 µg/mL. MDAMB-231 cell viability post-exposure was tested through an MTT assay, which indicated a decreased MDA-MB-231 cell viability with increased Pongamia pinnata bark extract doses. Cell viability was found to be significantly affected (p < 0.05) at 1 µg/mL, 10 µg/mL, 100 µg/mL, and 1000 µg/mL. By plotting an inhibition curve, the half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of the extract was generated at 5.871 µg/mL, indicating that the Pongamia pinnata methanolic extract was effective against MDA-MB-231 cells. Further analysis of the extract was done by quantifying putative compounds via liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LCMS). A total of 33 compounds were identified, with 8 having reported anti-cancer activity.