Cytotoxic Activity of Selected Iranian Traditional Medicinal Plants on Colon, Colorectal and Breast Cancer Cell Lines

Background: Many natural products from plants have been recognized toexert anticancer activity. In this study, ethanolic extracts of selected medicinalherbs from Iranian flora including Alyssum homolocarpum Fisch. (from seeds),Urtica dioica L. (from aerial parts), Cichorium intybus L. (from roots) andSolanum nigrum L. (from fruits), were evaluated for their cytotoxic effect ondifferent cell lines.Methods: Cytotoxic effect of these extracts was studied on three differentcancer cell lines; colon carcinoma (HT-۲۹), colorectal adenocarcinoma (Caco-۲)and breast ductal carcinoma (T۴۷D). In addition, Swiss mouse embryo fibroblasts(NIH ۳T۳) were used as normal nonmalignant cells. MTT assay (۳-(۴,۵-dimethylthiazol-۲-yl)-۲,۵-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) was utilized forcalculating the cytotoxicity of extracts on cell lines.Results: Results showed the potent cytotoxic activity of U. dioica ethanolicextract againstT۴۷Dcell linewith IC۵۰ value of ۴۶.۱۴±۴.۵۵ μg/ml.Other extractsshowed poor activitywith IC۵۰>۱۰۰ μg/ml.Conclusions: Cytotoxic activity recorded in the present study revealedhigh potential antiproliferative activity of U. dioica ethanolic extract againstT۴۷Dcell line.The real IC۵۰ values of this extractmay be considerably lower thanthe IC۵۰ measured in our study if its pharmacological active compounds becomepure. The results emphasize the importance of studies on U. dioica ethanolicextract to characterize potential components as cytotoxic natural medicines.

Keywords:

Cytotoxicity , urtica dioica L. , solanum nigrum L. , cichorium intybus L. , alyssum homolocarpum Fisch. ,