Aqueous Eucalyptus microcorys extract derived HPLC fractions with antioxidant and anti-pancreatic cancer activity

![CDATA[In Australia, pancreatic cancer (PC) has the highest mortality rate of any cancer with approximately 2500 new patients diagnosed every year. It has a poor prognosis due to its complexity and availability of very few effective therapies. More than 60% of the commercial anticancer drugs are derived from natural sources. Various natural and semi-synthetic drugs such as gemcitabine have been used in the treatment of PC. Although a number of reports suggested the anticancer properties of Australian eucalypts, there is very little scientific evidence emphasizing a direct role of eucalypts in the treatment of PC. The present study was designed to assess anti-pancreatic cancer and antioxidant activity of five HPLC fractions derived from the aqueous Eucalyptus microcorys extract. The cytotoxicity of the fractions against the MIA PaCa-2 pancreatic cancer and HPDE normal cell lines was elucidated using the Cell Counting Kit-8 assay. The Muse caspase 3/7 assay was applied to evaluate the apoptotic profile of the cancer cells. The antioxidant properties of the fractions were determined by ABTS, DPPH and CUPRAC assays. The fraction 1 (F1) at both 200 and 100 µg/mL exhibited significantly greater cell growth inhibition than the other four fractions (p < 0.05) with activation of caspase 3/7 mediated apoptosis in MIA PaCa-2 cells. F1 also displayed significantly greater antioxidant properties compared to the other four fractions in all three antioxidant assays (p < 0.05). These findings reveal the significance of the E. microcorys fractions as a potential source of phytochemicals with antioxidant and anti-pancreatic cancer activity.]]