| Scrophularia subaphylla (S. subaphylla) L., a medicinal plant from the Scrophulariaceae family, has been
reported to possess potential profits in the treatment and prophylaxis of different diseases. Some phenolic
compounds in this genus have been displayed decent effects on different types of cancer via multiple
mechanisms. The current study aimed to bioassay guided isolation of cytotoxic constituents from the aerial
parts of S. subaphylla against breast (MCF-7) and colon (HT-29) cancer cell lines as well as normal cells
(L929). Different extracts of S. subaphylla were acquired by Soxhlet apparatus and then subjected to
brine shrimp lethality test and MTT assay for assessing their cytotoxic characteristics. Cytotoxic extract
subjected to further phytochemical fractionation using solid phase extraction, reversed-phase high pressure
liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC), and one dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance (1D-NMR)
spectroscopy. The biological activity of the isolated pure components, verbascoside and 3' O rhamnosyl -4'
O para coumaryl 7- hydroxyl salidroside, was assessed using MTT assay against MCF-7 and HT-29
carcinoma cells. Two known phenylpropanoid compounds were isolated from this species. Their structures
were elucidated by spectroscopic data (using 1H-NMR and 13C-NMR) and compared with the previous
literature. Both pure compounds in comparison with control group demonstrated significant antiproliferative
activity against cancerous cells (P < 0.001). In our study, verbascoside and its derivative could inhibit
proliferation of cancerous cells without any side effects on normal cells |