Background:

Herniarin is a natural coumarin occurs in some flowering plants, with antitumor effect.

Herniarin is cytotoxic to breast carcinoma cell line MCF-7 with an IC50 of 207.6 µM. Herniarin (100 µM) also induces apoptosis in MCF-7 cells[1]. Herniarin alone has no obvious cytotoxicity on transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) cells, but when in combination with 5 µg/mL cisplatin, Herniarin (80 µg/mL) potently enhances the antitumor effect of cisplatin, and increases chromatin condensation[2].

[1]. Mousavi SH, et al. Comparative analysis of the cytotoxic effect of 7-prenyloxycoumarin compounds and herniarin on MCF-7 cell line. Avicenna J Phytomed. 2015 Nov-Dec;5(6):520-30. [2]. Haghighitalab A, et al. Enhancement of cisplatin cytotoxicity in combination with herniarin in vitro. Drug Chem Toxicol. 2014 Apr;37(2):156-62.