Chemoprevention of NCI-H322 Lung Cancer Cells Proliferation and Tumor Regression in Murine Ascites Model by Dietary Flavonoid Quercetin

Prunus cerasus L (Sour cherries) contain diverse secondary metabolites which exhibit various biological activities, including anticancer, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory properties. The present study aimed to determine the anticancer efficacy of four compounds, quercetin, daidzin, rutin, and chlorogenic acid, isolated from Prunus cerasus fruit. The antiproliferative activity of four cherry isolates was determined against five different cancer cell lines (NCI-H322, A549, THP-1, MCF-7, and PC-3) by Tetrazolium bromide assay, followed by apoptosis Cell cycle analyses, mitochondrial membrane potential, cell migration test, and in vivo Ehrlich Ascites Carcinoma studies using potent bioactive lead. The cytotoxicity profile of the four molecules demonstrated that quercetin induced significant cell growth inhibition in all cancer cell lines with paramount 79% cytotoxicity against NCI-H322 lung cancer cells (IC50 value 24μM). Incubation of NCI-H322 cells with quercetin showed a concentration-dependent increase in hypo-diploid sub G0/G1 DNA fraction, exhibited consequential changes in nuclear morphology, and caused mitochondrial transmembrane potential loss of 60.3% augmented at 30 µM. Pertaining to in vivo potency, quercetin manifested 89% tumor inhibition at 50 mg/kg body weight in EAC-bearing mice. The current studies raise the potential usefulness of quercetin in chemoprevention against lung cancer cells and support its empirical use as a promising nutraceutical agent.