Pharmaceutical properties of 14,15-epoxygeranylgeraniol from Pterodon emarginatus seeds

Plants of the genus Pterodon (Fabaceae), commonly known as 'sucupira', have been used frequently in popular medicine in Brazil for its anti-rheumatic, analgesic, and anti-inflammatory properties. But, the antitumor effects on glioblastoma cells obtained from brain tumors are still unknown. Furthermore, important pharmaceutical properties have never been investigated. The aim of this work was to investigate the action of the extracts and the 14,15-epoxygeranylgeraniol, a diterpene abundant in hexane extract of P. emarginatus, on glioblastoma tumor cells and in the antioxidant and α-glucosidase inhibition activities. Therefore, the hexane (HE), dichloromethane (DE) and ethanol (EE) extracts were obtained from seeds powder in each solvent. The 14,15-epoxygeranylgeraniol was obtained from HE fractionation in silica gel columns and the TLC, CG-MS and RMN techniques were employed to characterize this diterpene. The cell viability assay showed that the proliferation of U87MG human glioblastoma cells was inhibited by both extracts and the 14,15-epoxygeranylgeraniol fraction. Both the HE and its diterpene fraction presented antioxidant activity and α-glucosidase enzyme inhibition when compared to the quercetin and acarbose solutions control, respectively. These results are promising and can lead to the identification of new bioactive molecules, chemotherapeutic agents or target enzymes blockers. Support by CAPES/PNPD.