RESUMO
Natural products are considered important sources of potential chemotherapeutic agents. Here, we evaluated the antiproliferative activity and the toxicological effects of the methanolic extract and a pure compound obtained from Solanum capsicoides seeds. The phytochemical profile was analyzed by chromatographic and spectroscopy methods. The acute toxicity was assessed in mice orally treated with the extract (2000 mg/kg), in vitro hemolytic activity and micronucleus test. The mutagenicity, developmental toxicity, and lethal dose (LD50) of carpesterol were estimated by the Toxicity Estimation Software Tool (TEST) software. A sulforhodamine B assay was employed to evaluate the antiproliferative activity. The toxicological assays did not observe signs of toxicity, either during the behavioral observations or in the autopsies, as well as no mutagenicity and hemolytic activity. The carpesterol did not present mutagenic effect and hemolytic activity but presents developmental toxicology and LD50 of 410 mg/kg in toxicity estimations by the TEST software. The S. capsicoides extract exhibited antiproliferative activity mainly in leukemia (K562) cell lineage. However, carpesterol presented antiproliferative activity in glioma (U251), breast (MCF-7), kidney (786-0), ovary (OVCAR-03), and K562 cell lineages. The data obtained show that S. capsicoides extract presents antiproliferative and does not present toxicological effects. In addition, it was shown for the first time the antiproliferative and toxicological parameters of carpesterol.