Cytotoxic fraction from Artemisia sacrorum Ledeb. against three human cancer cell lines and separation and identification of its compounds.

Artemisia sacrorum Ledeb. was extracted by 95% ethanol and water, respectively. By partitioning the 95% ethanol extract successively with different solvents and separating the water extract by macroporous resin, nine separate parts were obtained. According to the results of in vitro experiments, the CH₂Cl₂ (dichloromethane) fraction showed the most pronounced cytotoxic activity against HepG2, HT-29 and MCF-7 cells, with EC₅₀ values 122.35, 49.76 and 28.51 µg mL⁻¹, respectively, at 48 h. Following this, the compounds of the CH₂Cl₂ fraction were separated and identified. Ten compounds were isolated from A. sacrorum Ledeb. and identified by spectral analysis. Four compounds, including acacetin, were isolated for the first time from A. sacrorum Ledeb.