To explore the antitumor activity of Cucurbitacin E (CuE) against colorectal cancer (CRC) cells, an in vitro study is initiated in which each of the CRC cell lines is exposed to increasing doses of Cucurbitacin E (0, 2.5, 5, and 7.5 μM) over a period of 24 h. The proliferation of the Cucurbitacin E-treated cancer cells is then measured using the MTT method. Cucurbitacin E is shown to induce morphological changes in the primary colon cancer cells. Microscopic observation showed that following exposure to Cucurbitacin E (5 μM) between 6 and 24 h, the primary colon cancer cells underwent a remarkable change in morphology. Cucurbitacin E inhibits tumor growth by arresting the cell cycle in the G ₂ /M phase via GADD45γ gene expression and the blockage of cyclin B1/CDC2 complex in primary CRC cells.

A high fat diet mice model of metabolic syndrome (HFD-MetS) is developed to assess the role of Cucurbitacin E (CuE) on body weight and fat tissue biology. Significant decrease in body weights of HFD-MetS mice treated with Cucurbitacin E (0.5mg/kg) are found as compared to HFD-MetS mice treated with vehicle alone. Cucurbitacin E treatment reduces all fat pads weights in HFD-MetS mice. 55% reduction is observed in total fat in mice, after treatment with Cucurbitacin E in comparison to HFD-MetS mice. Abdominal obesity is strongly associated with metabolic syndrome. Central obesity is reduced to 50% after Cucurbitacin E treatment as compared to HFD MetS mice, elucidating the effectiveness of Cucurbitacin E in targeting MetS.