In Vitro Antitumor, Antioxidant, and Hemolytic Activities of Chlorella sorokiniana Methanol Extracts and Collective Fractions

Chlorella species are fast-growing microalgae with significant industrial applications. The aim of the present study was to investigate the antitumor, antioxidant, and hemolytic activities of Chlorella sorokiniana UTEX 1230 crude methanol extracts and fractions. Ch. sorokiniana crude methanol extracts and collective fractions (CFs) were obtained from lyophilized biomass by maceration and column chromatography. Antitumor assays against murine lymphoma L5178Y-R and human breast cancer MCF-7 cells were performed by the colorimetric 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) reduction technique, using human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) as the control group. Antioxidant and hemolytic activities were evaluated using the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging assay (DPPH) and erythrocyte hemolysis, respectively. We showed that crude methanol extracts (IC50) increased L5178Y-R and MCF-7 cell growth inhibition, without affecting PBMC. In addition, all evaluated CFs showed significantly higher antioxidant activity than the positive control (ascorbic acid). CF3 and CF4 showed the highest cytotoxicity against L5178Y-R, whereas CF3, CF4, and CF5 caused the highest antitumor activity against MCF-7 cells. CF3, CF4, and CF5 induced significantly higher hemolytic activity compared with all other fractions. CF characterization revealed loliolide, cinnamic acid, methyl dihydrojasmonate, salsalvamide A, 1-monolinolenin, cryptophycin 29, costunolide, riboflavin lumicrome, and germicidin B, which have been related to antitumor and antioxidant activities. In conclusion, we demonstrated that Ch. sorokiniana extracts and fractions possess antitumor and antioxidant potential, without affecting human erythrocytes and PBMC.