Elok Kamilah Hayati, Akhmad Sabarudin, Aulanni'am, Fachrur Rozi, Dewi Anggraini Septaningsih, Mohamad Rafi
Acalypha indica is a weed used in traditional cancer treatments. In this study, we present the first attempt to use a metabolomic approach to identify cytotoxic compounds from A. indica extract with potential anticancer properties. The leaves of A. indica were extracted using ethanol, ethyl acetate, chloroform, and n-hexane. The cytotoxic activity against MCF-7 cells was evaluated, revealing 50% inhibition concentration (IC50) values ranging from 51.88 ± 7.80 to 226.86 ± 13.27 µg/mL. Metabolite profiling using liquid chromatography–high-resolution mass spectroscopy identified 27 metabolites and principal component analysis successfully differentiated the extracts, indicating variability in the compounds extracted using each solvent. To identify the cytotoxic compounds, orthogonal partial least-squares discriminant analysis was used to correlate metabolite profiles with IC50 values from the cytotoxic assay. From the results obtained, we successfully predicted six compounds contributing to the anticancer activity of A. indica, namely hernanol, 13(S)-HpOTrE, (±)9-HpODE, (+)-catechin, traumatic acid, and one compound as assumed to be theobromine. In silico analysis predicted that (+)-catechin and hernanol bind to the alpha-estrogen receptor with an affinity similar to that of doxorubicin. © 2025 Wiley-VHCA AG, Zurich, Switzerland.
Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Brawijaya University, Jl. Veteran, Malang, Indonesia; Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universitas Islam Negeri Maulana Malik Ibrahim Malang, Jl. Gajayana No. 50, Malang, Indonesia; Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universitas Islam Negeri Maulana Malik Ibrahim Malang, Jl. Gajayana No. 50, Malang, Indonesia; Advanced Research Laboratory, Jl. Palem Raya IPB Dramaga Campus, IPB University, Bogor, Indonesia; Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, IPB University, Jl. Tanjung IPB Dramaga Campus, Bogor, Indonesia; Tropical Biopharmaca Research Center, International Research Institute of Food, Nutrition, and Health, IPB Taman Kencana Campus, Jl Taman Kencana No. 3, Bogor, Indonesia
