ABSTRACT
Studies of extracts and phytochemicals from Passiflora genus have shown promissory biological activity for cancerchemoprevention; thus, in this work, it was evaluated the anticancer potential of the ethanolic extract of Passifloraedulis f. Flavicarpa leaves over Caco-2 and SW480 colorectal adenocarcinoma cells. The effect of the extract oncell viability was evaluated by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide and its antiproliferativeactivity was assessed by clonogenic assays. In addition, by flow cytometry approaches, it was evaluated the apoptosisinducing effect and cell cycle regulation. In this way, it was established the half maximal inhibitory concentration(IC50) of the extract over both cell lines and also, it was observed the inhibition of cellular proliferation after 48 hoursof exposure to the extract. On the other hand, we observed that the extract induced cell death-mechanisms, by theincreasing of the proportion of necrotic and apoptotic cells; furthermore, the extract altered the distribution of cellcycle phases by increasing SubG1 and G2/M populations. Altogether, these results suggest that P. edulis is a potentialsource of phytochemical compounds with anticancer properties for the management of colorectal cancer patients.