Sains Malaysiana 52(4)(2023): 1145-1160

http://doi.org/10.17576/jsm-2023-5204-09

Antiproliferative and Anti-Tyrosinase Activities of Propolis from Tetragonula laeviceps and Tetragonula pegdeni in Thailand

(Aktiviti Antiproliferasi dan Anti-Tirosinase Propolis daripada Tetragonula laeviceps dan Tetragonula pegdeni di Thailand)

THITIPAN MEEMONGKOLKIAT^1,*, SONGCHAN PUTHONG², PHANTHIWA KHONGKARAT³, PREECHA ROD-IM⁴, ORAWAN DUANGPHAKDEE⁴, PREECHA PHUWAPRAISIRISAN⁵ & CHANPEN CHANCHAO¹

¹Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, 254 Phayathai Road, Bangkok 10330, Thailand

²Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, Chulalongkorn University, 254 Phayathai Road, Bangkok 10330, Thailand

³Program in Biotechnology, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, 254 Phayathai Road, Bangkok 10330, Thailand

⁴Native Honeybee and Pollinator Research Center, Ratchaburi Campus, King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi, Ratchaburi 70150, Thailand

⁵Center of Excellence in Natural Products, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, 254 Phayathai Road, Bangkok 10330, Thailand

Received: 7 August 2022/Accepted: 27 March 2023

Abstract

Propolis is one of the economic bee products with biological activities, but these activities can vary according to the local plants and bee species. This study aimed to evaluate the cytotoxic and antityrosinase activity of the methanol-, hexane-, and dichloromethane-partitioned propolis extracts (MPE, HPE, and DPE, respectively) of two dominant stingless bee species in Thailand (Tetragonula laeviceps and Tetragonula pegdeni) sourced from four locations in Ratchaburi province and one location in Chiangmai province. Their antiproliferative/cytotoxic activity, as the relative cell viability, was screened against the liver (Hep-G2) and gastric carcinoma (KATO-III) cancer cell lines in comparison to the untransformed lung fibroblast (WI-38) cell line using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay. Interestingly, DPE7 was the extract that showed great potential anticancer properties because it was significantly higher cytotoxic to cancer cell lines (Hep-G2 and KATO-III, with IC₅₀ values of 36.40 and 35.15 mg/mL, respectively) than to normal cell lines (WI-38, with IC₅₀ values of 46.52 mg/mL). Although DPE7 did not exhibit the highest antityrosinase activity, its moderate antityrosinase activity (IC₅₀ of 1.388 mg/mL) considered it possible for further purification though not as effective as Kojic acid (IC₅₀ of 0.0432 mg/mL). Besides, the different bioactivities in propolis from different sites were expected due to the different flora in each location. However, further studies are needed to better understand the properties and safety aspects of selected partitioned extracts.

Keywords: Antiproliferative activity; antityrosinase activity; Tetragonula laeviceps; Tetragonula pegdeni; Thai propolis

Abstrak

Propolis adalah salah satu produk lebah dengan aktiviti biologi, tetapi aktiviti ini boleh berbeza-beza mengikut tumbuhan tempatan dan spesies lebah. Kajian ini bertujuan untuk menilai aktiviti sitotoksik dan antitirosinase bagi ekstrak propolis melalui pemisahan metanol, heksana dan diklorometana (masing-masing MPE, HPE dan DPE) daripada dua spesies lebah tanpa sengat yang dominan di Thailand (Tetragonula laeviceps dan Tetragonula pegdeni) yang diperoleh dari empat lokasi di wilayah Ratchaburi dan satu lokasi di wilayah Chiangmai. Aktiviti antiproliferasi/sitotoksik mereka sebagai kebolehidupan sel relatif, telah disaring terhadap sel kanser hati (Hep-G2) dan karsinoma gastrik (KATO-III) berbanding dengan titisan sel fibroblas paru-paru tidak tertransform (WI-38) menggunakan asai 3-(4,5-dimetiltiazol-2-yl)-2,5-difeniltetrazolium bromida. Menariknya, DPE7 ialah ekstrak yang menunjukkan sifat antikanser yang berpotensi besar kerana tinggi sitotoksik terhadap titisan sel kanser (Hep-G2 dan KATO-III, dengan nilai IC₅₀ masing-masing 36.40 dan 35.15 g/mL) berbanding titisan sel normal (WI-38, dengan nilai IC₅₀ 46.52 g/mL). Walaupun DPE7 tidak menunjukkan aktiviti antitirosinase tertinggi, aktiviti antitirosinase sederhananya (IC₅₀ sebanyak 1.388 mg/mL) mungkin boleh dipertimbangkan untuk penulenan selanjutnya walaupun tidak berkesan seperti asid Kojic (IC₅₀ sebanyak 0.0432 mg/mL). Selain itu, bioaktiviti yang berbeza dalam propolis dari tapak kajian yang berbeza telah dijangka akibat daripada flora yang berlainan di setiap lokasi. Walau bagaimanapun, kajian lanjutan diperlukan untuk memahami sifat dan aspek keselamatan bagi ekstrak pembahagian terpilih dengan lebih lagi.

Kata kunci: Aktiviti antiproliferasi; aktiviti antitirosinase; propolis Thai; Tetragonula laeviceps; Tetragonula pegdeni

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^*Corresponding author; email: lek_tues_ti@hotmail.com