Polyacanthoside A, a new oleanane-type triterpenoid saponin with cytotoxic effects from the leaves of (Fabaceae).

The chemical investigation of the leaves and stem bark of (Fabaceae) led to the isolation of a new oleanane-type triterpenoid saponin named polyacanthoside A together with fifteen known compounds. Their structures were established from spectral , mainly HRESIMS, 1D NMR and 2D NMR and by comparison with literature data. The cytotoxicity of compound and the analogues as well as doxorubicin was determined in a panel of 9 cancer cell lines including sensitive and drug resistant phenotypes. Unlike the analogue compound as well as doxorubicin displayed cytotoxic effects in all the 9 tested cancer cell lines with IC values ranged from 8.90 μM (towards CCRF-CEM leukemia cells) to 35.21 μM (towards HepG2 hepatocarcinoma cells) for compound and from 0.02 μM (towards CCRF-CEM leukemia cells) to 66.83 μM (against CEM/ADR5000 leukemia cells) for doxorubicin.