Acute and subacute (28 days) toxicity, hemolytic and cytotoxic effect of Artocarpus heterophyllus seed extracts

BACKGROUND: Plants and their parts are a part of life in many Brazilian communities, as observed in the jackfruit. The jackfruit seeds are consumed, usually, as roasted, boiled, steamed, and are eaten as a snack. OBJECTIVE: The present study was carried out to identify the Artocarpus heterophyllus seeds toxicity and cytotoxic activity. METHODS: The extracts were tested in toxicity assays like, brine shrimp lethality assay, hemolysis assay, and effect of seed extracts on T47D, TH29 and B16F10 cancer cell lines, and in acute and subchronic toxicity in mice. RESULTS: Artocarpus heterophyllus seed presents no toxic effects in brine shrimp, no hemolytic activity, and was effective in cancer cell lines like T47D, TH29 and B16F10. IC50 obtained from extracts was 46.67 μg/ml of chloroform extract in T47D cells, 23.42 μg/ml of ethanolic extract in HT29 cells, and 74.31 μg/ml of ethyl acetic extract in B16F10 cells. Ethanolic extract presented zero lethality index and was able to reduce the level of glycemia in females (32.3%) in the subchronic test. CONCLUSIONS: With this results we can conclude that Artocarpus heterophyllus seeds presents no toxicity, and is very effective in determinated cancer cell lines, requiring further studies to validate their use as active natural product against cancer cells.