Gas chromatography coupled with mass analysis phytochemical profiling, antiproliferative and antimigratory effect of tagetes lucida leaves extracts on cervical cancer cell lines

Background: Tagetes species have been extensively employed in folk medicine and have been demonstrated to exert various biological activities due to its phytochemical constituents, including those related to cancer. Objectives: The aim of this study was to identify, in Tagetes lucida organic leaf extracts, the bioactive compounds with antiproliferative and antimigratory activities on the human cervical cancer (CCa) cell lines human cervical cancer cell line (HPV-16) (SiHa) and human cervical cancer cell line (HPV-18) (HeLa), and on the non-cancer cell line human immortalized keratinocyte cell line (HaCaT). Materials and Methods: The phytochemical profile of all Tagetes leaves extracts was determined by Gas chromatography mass spectroscopy analysis and tested on SiHa, HeLa, and HaCaT cell lines using (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) and wound-healing assays. Results: The Gas chromatography coupled with mass analysis analysis revealed two main constituents identified in all extracts, the coumarins herniarin (17.152%–56.904% content) and scoparone (2.778%–34.817% content), the rest of identified constituents were terpenes where the geranyl acetate was the major constituent on hexane extract. On the anti-proliferative potential of T. lucida extracts, our present investigation revealed that all extracts decreased HeLa cell viability (half-maximal inhibitory concentration value of <190.26 mg/mL at 24 h and <220.41 mg/mL at 48 h) dose dependently; the cell viability of SiHa and HaCaT was not affected. Furthermore, the migration capacity of SiHa and HeLa cells decreased after 24 and 48 h with acetonic and methanolic extracts treatment, while on HeLa cells a more evident effect was observed with a <80% decrease in wound closure. Conclusion: Our findings revealed the coumarins presented in T. lucida as potential candidates of inhibiting cell proliferation and migration preferably toward CCa (HeLa cell line).