{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,6]],"date-time":"2026-03-06T12:12:55Z","timestamp":1772799175647,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":45,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,23]],"date-time":"2021-04-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1619136000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100008382","name":"Fundo Regional para a Ci\u00eancia e Tecnologia","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["UIDP\/04567\/2020 and UIDB\/04567\/2020, UID\/MULTI\/04378\/2013"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["UIDP\/04567\/2020 and UIDB\/04567\/2020, UID\/MULTI\/04378\/2013"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100008382","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Pharmaceuticals"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Plectranthus species (Lamiaceae) have been employed in traditional medicine and this is now validated by the presence of bioactive abietane-type diterpenoids. Herein, sixteen Plectranthus acetonic extracts were prepared by ultrasound-assisted extraction and their biological activity was screened. The antimicrobial activity of each extract was screened against yeasts, and Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. The P. hadiensis and P. mutabilis extracts possessed significant activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans (microdilution method). Moreover, all extracts showed antioxidant activity using the DPPH method, with P. hadiensis and P. mutabilis extracts having the highest scavenging activities. Selected by the Artemia salina model, P. hadiensis and P.ciliatus possessed low micromolar anti-proliferative activities in human colon, breast, and lung cancer cell lines. Furthermore, the most bioactive extract of P. hadiensis leaves and the known abietane diterpene, 7\u03b1-acetoxy-6\u03b2-hydroxyroyleanone isolated from this plant, were tested against the aggressive type triple negative breast cancer (MDA-MB-231S). P. hadiensis extract reduced the viability of MDA-MB-231S cancer cell line cells, showing an IC50 value of 25.6 \u00b5g\/mL. The IC50 value of 7\u03b1-acetoxy-6\u03b2-hydroxyroyleanone was 5.5 \u00b5M (2.15 \u00b5g\/mL), suggesting that this lead molecule is a potential starting tool for the development of anti-cancer drugs.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ph14050402","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,24]],"date-time":"2021-04-24T21:49:20Z","timestamp":1619300960000},"page":"402","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":18,"title":["Preliminary Biological Activity Screening of Plectranthus spp. Extracts for the Search of Anticancer Lead Molecules"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6596-8985","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Epole","family":"Ntungwe","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"CBIOS\u2014Universidade Lus\u00f3fona Research Center for Biosciences &amp; Health Technologies, Universidade Lus\u00f3fona de Humanidades e Tecnologias, Campo Grande 376, 1749-024 Lisboa, Portugal"},{"name":"Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Alcal\u00e1 de Henares, Ctra. A2, Km 33.100\u2014Campus Universitario, 28805 Alcal\u00e1 de Henares, Spain"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7884-4292","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Eva Mar\u00eda","family":"Dom\u00ednguez-Mart\u00edn","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CBIOS\u2014Universidade Lus\u00f3fona Research Center for Biosciences &amp; Health Technologies, Universidade Lus\u00f3fona de Humanidades e Tecnologias, Campo Grande 376, 1749-024 Lisboa, Portugal"},{"name":"Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Alcal\u00e1 de Henares, Ctra. A2, Km 33.100\u2014Campus Universitario, 28805 Alcal\u00e1 de Henares, Spain"}]},{"given":"Catarina","family":"Teod\u00f3sio","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CBIOS\u2014Universidade Lus\u00f3fona Research Center for Biosciences &amp; Health Technologies, Universidade Lus\u00f3fona de Humanidades e Tecnologias, Campo Grande 376, 1749-024 Lisboa, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Silvia","family":"Teixid\u00f3-Trujillo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centro Atl\u00e1ntico del Medicamento S.A., Avenida Trinidad 61, 7\u00aa Planta, Torre Agust\u00edn Ar\u00e9valo, 38204 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain"}]},{"given":"Natalia","family":"Armas Capote","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centro Atl\u00e1ntico del Medicamento S.A., Avenida Trinidad 61, 7\u00aa Planta, Torre Agust\u00edn Ar\u00e9valo, 38204 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9531-4939","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lucilia","family":"Saraiva","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"LAQV\/REQUIMTE, Laborat\u00f3rio de Microbiologia, Departamento de Ci\u00eancias Biol\u00f3gicas, Faculdade de Farm\u00e1cia, Universidade do Porto, Rua de Jorge Viterbo Ferreira n.\u00ba 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4216-3997","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ana Mar\u00eda","family":"D\u00edaz-Lanza","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Alcal\u00e1 de Henares, Ctra. A2, Km 33.100\u2014Campus Universitario, 28805 Alcal\u00e1 de Henares, Spain"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3119-8745","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"No\u00e9lia","family":"Duarte","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto de Investiga\u00e7\u00e3o do Medicamento (iMed.ULisboa), Faculdade de Farm\u00e1cia, Universidade de Lisboa, 1649-003 Lisboa, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7992-8343","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Patr\u00edcia","family":"Rijo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CBIOS\u2014Universidade Lus\u00f3fona Research Center for Biosciences &amp; Health Technologies, Universidade Lus\u00f3fona de Humanidades e Tecnologias, Campo Grande 376, 1749-024 Lisboa, Portugal"},{"name":"Instituto de Investiga\u00e7\u00e3o do Medicamento (iMed.ULisboa), Faculdade de Farm\u00e1cia, Universidade de Lisboa, 1649-003 Lisboa, Portugal"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,23]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"552","DOI":"10.1021\/acs.jnatprod.9b00949","article-title":"Scientific and Regulatory Approach to Botanical Drug Development: A U.S. FDA Perspective","volume":"83","author":"Wu","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. Nat. Prod."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"770","DOI":"10.1021\/acs.jnatprod.9b01285","article-title":"Natural Products as Sources of New Drugs over the Nearly Four Decades from 01\/1981 to 09\/2019","volume":"83","author":"Newman","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. Nat. Prod."},{"key":"ref_3","unstructured":"World Health Organization (WHO) (2021, February 05). Fact Sheet on Cancer. Available online: https:\/\/www.who.int\/news-room\/fact-sheets\/detail\/cancer."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"41","DOI":"10.1016\/j.phytochem.2019.01.017","article-title":"Natural barrigenol\u2013like triterpenoids: A comprehensive review of their contributions to medicinal chemistry","volume":"161","author":"Zhang","year":"2019","journal-title":"Phytochemistry"},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"70","DOI":"10.1016\/j.phytochem.2017.01.002","article-title":"Isolation of isoflavones from Iris kashmiriana Baker as potential anti proliferative agents targeting NF-kappaB","volume":"136","author":"Alam","year":"2017","journal-title":"Phytochemistry"},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1588","DOI":"10.2174\/1389201021666200622121249","article-title":"A Current Perspective of Plants as an Antibacterial Agent: A Review","volume":"21","year":"2020","journal-title":"Curr. Pharm. Biotechnol."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Arumugam, G., Swamy, M.K., and Sinniah, U.R. (2016). Plectranthus amboinicus (Lour.) Spreng: Botanical, Phytochemical, Pharmacological and Nutritional Significance. Molecules, 21.","DOI":"10.3390\/molecules21040369"},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Al Musayeib, N.M., Amina, M., Al-Hamoud, G.A., Mohamed, G.A., Ibrahim, S.R.M., and Shabana, S. (2020). Plectrabarbene, a new abietane diterpene from plectranthus barbatus aerial parts. Molecules, 25.","DOI":"10.3390\/molecules25102365"},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Garcia, C., Silva, C.O., Monteiro, C.M., Nicolai, M., Gonz, I., and Ana, M.D. (2018). Anticancer properties of the abietane diterpene 6,7-dehydroroyleanone obtained by optimized extraction. Future Med. Chem., 10.","DOI":"10.4155\/fmc-2017-0239"},{"key":"ref_10","first-page":"127","article-title":"Antimicrobial screening of Plectranthus madagascariensis and P. neochilus extracts","volume":"12","author":"Pereira","year":"2015","journal-title":"Biomed. Biopharm. Res."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4207","DOI":"10.2174\/1381612825666190115144241","article-title":"Naturally Occurring Plectranthus-derived Diterpenes with Antitumoral Activities","volume":"24","author":"Garcia","year":"2019","journal-title":"Curr. Pharm. Des."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Abdissa, N., Frese, M., and Sewald, N. (2017). Antimicrobial abietane-type diterpenoids from plectranthus punctatus. Molecules, 22.","DOI":"10.3390\/molecules22111919"},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"362","DOI":"10.1021\/acs.jnatprod.5b00990","article-title":"Abietane-Type Diterpenoid Amides with Highly Potent and Selective Activity against Leishmania donovani and Trypanosoma cruzi","volume":"79","author":"Pirttimaa","year":"2016","journal-title":"J. Nat. Prod."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Isca, V.M.S., Andrade, J., Fernandes, A.S., Paix, P., Uriel, C., and Mar, A. (2020). In Vitro Antimicrobial Activity of Isopimarane-Type Diterpenoids. Molecules, 25.","DOI":"10.3390\/molecules25184250"},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Mesquita, L.S.F., Matos, T.S., Do Nascimento \u00c1vila, F., Da Silva Batista, A., Moura, A.F., De Moraes, M.O., Da Silva, M.C.M., Ferreira, T.L.A., Nascimento, N.R.F., and Monteiro, N.K.V. (2020). Diterpenoids from Leaves of cultivated Plectranthus ornatus. Planta Med.","DOI":"10.1055\/a-1209-3252"},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"\u015aliwi\u0144ski, T., Sitarek, P., Ska\u0142a, E., Isca, V.M.S., Synowiec, E., Kowalczyk, T., Bijak, M., and Rijo, P. (2020). Diterpenoids from Plectranthus spp. As potential chemotherapeutic agents via apoptosis. Pharmaceuticals, 13.","DOI":"10.3390\/ph13060123"},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Garcia, C., Ntungwe, E., Rebelo, A., Bessa, C., Stankovic, T., Dinic, J., D\u00edaz-Lanza, A., Reis, C.P., Roberto, A., and Pereira, P. (2019). Parvifloron D from Plectranthus strigosus: Cytotoxicity screening of Plectranthus spp. extracts. Biomolecules, 9.","DOI":"10.3390\/biom9100616"},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"39","DOI":"10.1016\/j.phytochem.2018.06.012","article-title":"Anti-inflammatory and antiproliferative diterpenoids from Plectranthus scutellarioides","volume":"154","author":"Cretton","year":"2018","journal-title":"Phytochemistry"},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"221","DOI":"10.1016\/j.phytol.2010.08.002","article-title":"Two new diterpenoids from Plectranthus species","volume":"3","author":"Rijo","year":"2010","journal-title":"Phytochem. Lett."},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"8360","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms15058360","article-title":"In vitro antiprotozoal activity of abietane diterpenoids isolated from Plectranthus barbatus andr","volume":"15","author":"Mothana","year":"2014","journal-title":"Int. J. Mol. Sci."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"8094","DOI":"10.1021\/acsomega.9b00512","article-title":"Cytotoxic Activity of Royleanone Diterpenes from Plectranthus madagascariensis Benth","volume":"4","author":"Matias","year":"2019","journal-title":"ACS Omega"},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1711","DOI":"10.3389\/fphar.2020.557789","article-title":"Royleanone Derivatives from Plectranthus spp. as a Novel Class of P-Glycoprotein Inhibitors","volume":"11","author":"Garcia","year":"2020","journal-title":"Front. Pharmacol."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"839","DOI":"10.1021\/acsmedchemlett.9b00642","article-title":"Molecular Docking Studies of Royleanone Diterpenoids from Plectranthus spp. as P-Glycoprotein Inhibitors","volume":"11","author":"Isca","year":"2020","journal-title":"ACS Med. Chem. Lett."},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Isca, V.M.S., Sencanski, M., Filipovic, N., Dos Santos, D.J.V.A., Ga\u0161parovi\u0107, A.\u010c., Sara\u00edva, L., Afonso, C.A.M., Rijo, P., and Garc\u00eda-Sosa, A.T. (2020). Activity to breast cancer cell lines of different malignancy and predicted interaction with protein kinase C isoforms of royleanones. Int. J. Mol. Sci., 21.","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms21103671"},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Saraiva, N., Costa, J.G., Reis, C., Almeida, N., Rijo, P., and Fernandes, A.S. (2020). Anti-migratory and pro-apoptotic properties of parvifloron d on triple-negative breast cancer cells. Biomolecules, 10.","DOI":"10.3390\/biom10010158"},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"31","DOI":"10.4103\/1735-5362.199044","article-title":"In vitro antioxidant and cytotoxic potential of different parts of Tephrosia purpurea","volume":"12","author":"Padmapriya","year":"2017","journal-title":"Res. Pharm. Sci."},{"key":"ref_27","first-page":"225","article-title":"Screening of antioxidant and antimicrobial activities on Plectranthus spp. extracts","volume":"9","author":"Rijo","year":"2012","journal-title":"Biomed. Biopharm. Res."},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"257","DOI":"10.1080\/14756366.2020.1862099","article-title":"Screening the dermatological potential of plectranthus species components: Antioxidant and inhibitory capacities over elastase, collagenase and tyrosinase","volume":"36","author":"Andrade","year":"2021","journal-title":"J. Enzym. Inhib. Med. Chem."},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ndjoubi, K.O., Sharma, R., Badmus, J.A., Jacobs, A., Jordaan, A., Marnewick, J., Warner, D.F., and Hussein, A.A. (2021). Antimycobacterial, Cytotoxic, and Antioxidant Activities of Abietane Diterpenoids Isolated from Plectranthus madagascariensis. Plants, 10.","DOI":"10.3390\/plants10010175"},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Matias, D., Nicolai, M., Fernandes, A.S., Saraiva, N., Almeida, J., Saraiva, L., Faustino, C., D\u00edaz-Lanza, A.M., Reis, C.P., and Rijo, P. (2019). Comparison study of different extracts of Plectranthus madagascariensis, P. neochilus and the rare P. porcatus (lamiaceae): Chemical characterization, antioxidant, antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities. Biomolecules, 9.","DOI":"10.3390\/biom9050179"},{"key":"ref_31","first-page":"95","article-title":"Biological activity screening of seven Plectranthus species","volume":"14","author":"Ntungwe","year":"2017","journal-title":"J. Biomed. Biopharm. Res."},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Mogana, R., Adhikari, A., Tzar, M.N., Ramliza, R., and Wiart, C. (2020). Antibacterial activities of the extracts, fractions and isolated compounds from Canarium patentinervium miq. Against bacterial clinical isolates. BMC Complement. Med. Ther., 20.","DOI":"10.1186\/s12906-020-2837-5"},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2892","DOI":"10.2174\/1381612826666200406083035","article-title":"Artemia species: An Important Tool to Screen General Toxicity Samples","volume":"26","author":"Ntungwe","year":"2020","journal-title":"Curr. Pharm. Des."},{"key":"ref_34","first-page":"71","article-title":"Phytochemical screening and cytotoxicity of crude extracts of vatica diospyroides Symington type LS","volume":"12","author":"Srisawat","year":"2013","journal-title":"Trop. J. Pharm. Res."},{"key":"ref_35","first-page":"35","article-title":"Triple Negative Breast Cancer Cell Lines: One Tool in the Search for Better Treatment of Triple Negative Breast Cancer","volume":"32","author":"Kathryn","year":"2012","journal-title":"Breast Dis."},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1413","DOI":"10.1021\/np400172k","article-title":"Antiproliferative activity of abietane diterpenoids against human tumor cells","volume":"76","author":"Burmistrova","year":"2013","journal-title":"J. Nat. Prod."},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1412","DOI":"10.1021\/acs.molpharmaceut.7b00892","article-title":"Extraction Optimization and Structural and Thermal Characterization of the Antimicrobial Abietane 7\u03b1-Acetoxy-6\u03b2-hydroxyroyleanone","volume":"15","author":"Bernardes","year":"2018","journal-title":"Mol. Pharm."},{"key":"ref_38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"271","DOI":"10.3390\/70200271","article-title":"Chemistry of the genus Plectranthus","volume":"7","author":"Albar","year":"2002","journal-title":"Molecules"},{"key":"ref_39","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Sitarek, P., Toma, M., Ntungwe, E., Kowalczyk, T., Ska\u0142a, E., Wieczfinska, J., \u015aliwi\u0144ski, T., and Rijo, P. (2020). Insight the biological activities of selected abietane diterpenes isolated from Plectranthus spp.. Biomolecules, 10.","DOI":"10.3390\/biom10020194"},{"key":"ref_40","unstructured":"(2021, January 01). The Plant List. Version 1.1. Available online: http:\/\/www.theplantlist.org\/."},{"key":"ref_41","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"479","DOI":"10.3390\/polym6020479","article-title":"Antimicrobial plant extracts encapsulated into polymeric beads for potential application on the skin","volume":"6","author":"Rijo","year":"2014","journal-title":"Polymers"},{"key":"ref_42","unstructured":"(2003). CLSI Padroniza\u00e7\u00e3o dos Testes de Sensibilidade a Antimicrobianos por Disco-difus\u00e3o. Norma Aprovada\u2014Oitava Edi\u00e7\u00e3o, NCCLS."},{"key":"ref_43","first-page":"6","article-title":"Antimicrobial activity of hydroalcoholic extracts from genipap, baru and taruma","volume":"47","author":"Isabel","year":"2017","journal-title":"Cienc. Rural"},{"key":"ref_44","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"60","DOI":"10.1016\/j.lfs.2015.10.015","article-title":"Enhanced cytotoxicity of prenylated chalcone against tumour cells via disruption of the p53-MDM2 interaction","volume":"142","author":"Soares","year":"2015","journal-title":"Life Sci."},{"key":"ref_45","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"138","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ejps.2014.10.006","article-title":"Oxazoloisoindolinones with in vitro antitumor activity selectively activate a p53-pathway through potential inhibition of the p53\u2013MDM2 interaction","volume":"66","author":"Soares","year":"2015","journal-title":"Eur. J. Pharm. Sci."}],"container-title":["Pharmaceuticals"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1424-8247\/14\/5\/402\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T05:52:01Z","timestamp":1760161921000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1424-8247\/14\/5\/402"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,23]]},"references-count":45,"journal-issue":{"issue":"5","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,5]]}},"alternative-id":["ph14050402"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/ph14050402","relation":{},"ISSN":["1424-8247"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1424-8247","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,23]]}}}