Cytotoxic activity of extracts from Linum cell cultures.

Callus and suspension cultures of Linum narbonense and Linum leonii were developed to study the production of lignans and their cytotoxic activity. Justicidin B was determined to be the main lignan. The maximal yield of justicidin B up to 2.22 mg/g of the cell dry weight was detected in the callus cultures of L. leonii, followed by the callus cultures of L. narbonense (1.57 mg/g dwt). The cytotoxicity of the obtained extracts was measured using the MTT-dye assay. L. narbonense and L. leonii both showed cytotoxic activity.