As part of an effort to improve plant-derived foods such as potatoes, eggplants, and tomatoes, the antiproliferative activities against human colon (HT29) and liver (HepG2)
cancer cells of a series of structurally related individual compounds were examined using a microculture tetrazolium (MTT) assay. The objective was to assess the roles of the
carbohydrate side chain and aglycon part of Solanum
glycosides in influencing inhibitory activities of these compounds. Evaluations were carried out with four concentrations each (0.1, 1, 10, and 100 microg/mL) of the the potato
trisaccharide glycoalkaloids
alpha-chaconine and
alpha-solanine; the
disaccharides beta(1)-chaconine, beta(2)-chaconine, and beta(2)-
solanine; the
monosaccharide gamma-chaconine and their common aglycon
solanidine; the tetrasaccharide potato glycoalkaloid dehydrocommersonine; the potato aglycon
demissidine; the tetrasaccharide tomato glycoalkaloid
alpha-tomatine, the
trisaccharide beta(1)-tomatine, the
disaccharide gamma-
tomatine, the
monosaccharide delta-
tomatine, and their common aglycon
tomatidine; the eggplant glycoalkaloids
solamargine and
solasonine and their common aglycon
solasodine; and the nonsteroidal
alkaloid jervine. All compounds were active in the assay, with the glycoalkaloids being the most active and the hydrolysis products less so. The effectiveness against the liver cells was greater than against the colon cells. Potencies of
alpha-tomatine and
alpha-chaconine at a concentration of 1 microg/mL against the liver
carcinoma cells were higher than those observed with the anticancer drugs
doxorubicin and
camptothecin. Because
alpha-chaconine,
alpha-solanine, and
alpha-tomatine also inhibited normal human liver HeLa (Chang) cells, safety considerations should guide the use of these compounds as preventative or therapeutic treatments against
carcinomas.