Corchorus olitorius exhibits antiproliferative potential supported by metabolic profiling and integrative biological analyses

Herbal nutraceuticals could be employed as alternative or complementary routes for alleviating cancer. Corchorus olitorius (Malvaceae) was employed traditionally in the management of tumors. The study aimed to investigate the antiproliferative activity of C. olitorius leaves. In vitro cytotoxic and anti-angiogenic activities of C. olitorius were estimated. The bioactive fraction was subjected to in vivo study on BALB/ c female mice using Ehrlich Ascites Carcinoma model. UPLC-ESI-MS/MS analysis was done to determine the phytometabolites followed by in silico studies on the major identified compounds. The bioactive fraction possessed potent in vitro activity against A549 cells with IC₅₀ = 7.8 µg/mL and exhibited strong anti-angiogenic activity. The in vivo study revealed the safety of the fraction and confirmed its anticancer activity. The tumor volume in the fraction treated group was reduced by 33.7% compared to the control group. UPLC-ESI-MS/MS analysis led to the identification of 25 compounds belonging to different chemical classes. The in silico pharmacodynamic profile revealed that the compounds exhibited agreeable binding affinities toward EGFR, CDK2 and VEGF-A comparable to the standard drugs. C. olitorius is a promising herbal nutraceutical from which effective chemopreventive and anticancer formulations can be developed following further in depth studies.