Colon adenocarcinoma is a life threatening malignancy with high rate of incidence worldwide. Auraptene is an abundant natural monoterpene coumarin that possesses valuable pharmaceutical effects, and urolithin A is an ellagic acid metabolite produced by gut microbial flora with several biological effects. In the current study, we aimed to compare toxic effects of auraptene with urolithin A in colon adenocarcinoma cells. Auraptene was synthesized by a reaction between 7-hydroxycoumarin and transgeranyl bromide, while 2-bromo-5-methoxy benzoic acid and resorcinol were used for urolithin A synthesis. After LoVo cells were treated with 10, 20, 40 and 80 µM auraptene or urolithin A, they were incubated for 24, 48 and 72 h. Finally, cell viability was assessed by resazurin as a colorimetric assay, and morphological alterations were recorded by an inverted microscope. Our finding indicated that auraptene toxicity increased during 3 consecutive days, as 97%, 89% and 69% of cells were alive upon 24, 48 and 72 h treatment with 40 µM auraptene, respectively. Meanwhile, viability of LoVo cells was calculated as 63%, 58% and 86% after 24, 48 and 72 h treatment with 40 µM urolithin A, respectively. Viability of cells decreased by the highest concentration of both agents; 80 µM auraptene reduced viability down to 63%, 33% and 26% after 24, 48 and 72 h treatment, respectively, and 43%, 31% and 41% of cells were alive upon 24, 48 and 72 h treatment with 80 µM urolithin A, respectively. To note, cell viability was ≥ 80% and ≥ 70% for lower concentrations of auraptene and urolithin A, respectively. Taken together, our findings revealed that auraptene and urolithin A induced their toxic effects in LoVo cells in a time- and dose-dependent manner. Moreover, cytotoxicity of urolithin A was more than that for auraptene in the same time and dose range, which make this agent a suitable option for further anticancer studies.

Keywords