In Vitro Assessment of the Anticancer Potential of Neferine Derived from Nelumbo nucifera Against Neuronal Cancer Cell Lines

In Vitro Assessment of the Anticancer Potential of Neferine Derived from Nelumbo nucifera Against Neuronal Cancer Cell Lines Sravani Batchu Department of Pharmacology, Vels Institute of Science, Technology and Advaced Studies Pallavaram, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India Ronald Darwin C Department of Pharmacology, Vels Institute of Science, Technology and Advaced Studies Pallavaram, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

Neuronal cancers, including glioblastoma and neuroblastoma, remain highly aggressive malignancies with limited therapeutic success, thereby necessitating the identification of novel agents with improved selectivity and safety profiles. The present study aimed to evaluate the in vitro anticancer potential of neferine, a bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloid isolated from Nelumbo nucifera, against neuronal cancer cell lines. Neferine was extracted and purified using acid–base partitioning followed by flash column chromatography. Its cytotoxic activity was assessed against N2a (mouse neuroblastoma) and U-87 MG (human glioblastoma) cell lines, along with NHA (normal human astrocytes), using the MTT assay. Neferine exhibited a concentration-dependent reduction in cell viability across all tested cell lines. The IC₅₀ values were determined to be 26.2 µg/mL for N2a and 34.8 µg/mL for U-87 MG cells, indicating moderate cytotoxic potency. Importantly, a significantly higher IC₅₀ value of 73.2 µg/mL was observed in normal astrocytes, demonstrating reduced toxicity toward non-cancerous cells. The selectivity index (SI) values of 2.79 (N2a) and 2.10 (U-87 MG) further confirmed the preferential cytotoxicity of neferine toward cancer cells. In comparison, the reference drug cisplatin showed higher cytotoxic potency but lower selectivity, indicating greater toxicity to normal cells. Overall, the findings suggest that neferine possesses promising anticancer activity with a favorable selectivity profile, highlighting its potential as a lead compound for the development of safer therapeutic strategies against neuronal cancers.
04 24 2026 10.25258/ijddt.16.18s.36 https://impactfactor.org/PDF/IJDDT/16/IJDDT,Vol16,Issue18s,Article36.pdf https://impactfactor.org/PDF/IJDDT/16/IJDDT,Vol16,Issue18s,Article36.pdf