PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - SHAGO, REBOTSAMANG F.
AU  - SWARTS, JANNIE C.
AU  - KREFT, ELKE
AU  - VAN RENSBURG, CONSTANCE E.J.
TI  - Antineoplastic Activity of a Series of Ferrocene-containing Alcohols
DP  - 2007 Sep 01
TA  - Anticancer Research
PG  - 3431--3433
VI  - 27
IP  - 5A
4099  - http://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/27/5A/3431.short
4100  - http://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/27/5A/3431.full
SO  - Anticancer Res2007 Sep 01; 27
AB  - Background: Often potentially good chemotherapeutic drugs find limited clinical use due to the many negative medical and physical side-effects they may exhibit. To combat these negative side-effects, new antineoplastic materials are continuously being synthesised and evaluated. Ferrocene-containing compounds under certain conditions may show appreciable anticancer activity. Some of the factors that determine this activity have been investigated. Materials and Methods: Ferrocene-containing alcohols were tested for cytotoxicity against the HeLa cancer cell line. Cell survival was measured by means of the colorometric 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay. Results: The 50% lethal dosage of 4-ferrocenylbutanol was 5.72 μmol. dm-3 and for 2-ferrocenylethanol and 3-ferrocenylpropanol it was 35.0 and 17 μmol. dm-3 respectively while for ferrocenylmethanol IC50 was >100 μmol. dm-3. Conclusion: A drug activity-structural relationship exists in that ferrocenyl drugs with longer side chains are more cytotoxic. Compounds with lower ferrocenyl group formal reduction potential are also more cytotoxic. Copyright© 2007 International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. John G. Delinassios), All rights reserved