Cytotoxicity of isoflavones from <i>Millettia dura</i>

The first phytochemical investigation of the flowers of Millettia dura resulted in the isolation of seven isoflavones, a flavonol and a chalcone. Eleven isoflavones and a flavonol isolated from various plant parts from this plant were tested for cytotoxicity against a panel of cell lines, and six of these showed good activity with IC50 values of 6-14 μM. Durmillone was the most active with IC50 values of 6.6 μM against A549 adenocarcinomic human alveolar basal epithelial cancer cell line with low cytotoxicity against the non-cancerous cell lines BEAS-2B (IC50 = 58.4 μM), LO2 hepatocytes (IC50 78.7 μM) and CCD19Lu fibroblasts (IC50 >100 μM).