Hecogenin

Hecogenin is a natural steroid sapogenin with diverse biological activities that was originally isolated from A. sisalana and has been used in the synthesis of steroids. It has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antiproliferative, and neuroprotective properties. Hecogenin (10 μM) decreases superoxide anion formation induced by N-Formyl-Met-Leu-Phe in rat neutrophils by 23.6%. It also inhibits myeloperoxidase (MPO) release from human neutrophils activated by phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate when used at a concentration of 1 μg/ml. Hecogenin inhibits proliferation of the breast cancer cell lines MDA-MB-231, MDA-MB-468, MCF-10A, MCF-7, T47D, BT474, and SK-BR-3 (IC50s = 28.7-38.2 μM). It decreases the number of glutamate-induced TUNEL-positive primary rat spinal motor neurons by 11% when used at a concentration of 1 μM. In vivo, hecogenin (15 mg/kg) decreases the mucosal lesion area of ethanol-induced gastric ulceration in mice. It also decreases tumor volume in an MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer mouse xenograft model when administered at a dose of 10 mg/kg three times per week.