ISOLATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF BIOACTIVE COMPOUNDS FROM PICRORHIZA KURROA AND ITS IN-VITRO ANTICANCER ACTIVITY Authors: Karale G , NAIKWADE N, TAMBOLI S.A. AND SHIKALAGAR T.S.
ABSTRACT
Picrorhiza kurroa Royle ex Benth. from the Scrophulariaceae family is an important
medicinal plant used in different formulations of herbal drugs that have hepatoprotective
activity. Because of the presence of iridoid glycosides, such as picroside-I and picroside-II in
underground part. According to the ethnopharmacological relevance Iridoid glycosides have
been linked to decreased cancer risks, such as hepatocarcinoma. While Picrorrhiza kurroa has
shown anti-hepatocarcinogenesis activity, its mechanism of action is poorly understood, the
anticancer activity of iridoid glycosides present in this plant has not yet been tested so far. The
anti-neoplastic activities of ethanolic extracts of P. kurroa rhizome and its isolated iridoid
glycosides Picroside I and Picroside II were investigated in the present study. These
compounds was identified by a spectrophotometric method. Furthermore, the cytotoxicity of
the extracts was tested by Brine shrimp lethality bioassay, Trypan blue exclusion assay and
MTT assay. Here, Hep G2 cell lines (Human hepatocellular carcinoma), Colo 205 (Human
colon cancer), Normal cell line (L929) were used to test whether P. Kurroa extract and its
isolated iridoid glycosides Picroside I and Picroside II exerts the anticancer activity. The study
showed that P. Kurroa extract and its isolated iridoid glycosides Picroside I and Picroside II
exhibited considerable cytotoxic potential in dose- dependent manner and were able to targetcells towards apoptosis. The study concludes that P. kurroa and its isolated iridoid glycosides
like Picroside I and Picroside II have diverse therapeutic potential that may be useful for drug
development or for its precursors.
Keywords: Cytotoxicity, Iridoid glycosides, Picrorhiza kurroa (P. Kurroa ), Picroside-I
(PI), Picroside-II (PII) Publication date: 01/06/2025 https://ijbpas.com/pdf/2025/June/MS_IJBPAS_2025_9068.pdfDownload PDFhttps://doi.org/10.31032/IJBPAS/2025/14.6.9068