M Radha Abbas Hasoon - University of Kufa, Faculty of Science, Department of Biology, Iraq
N Jawad Kadhim - University of Kufa, Faculty of Science, Department of Biology, Iraq

In China, Japan, and Korea, Panax ginseng has been used in traditional medicine for thousands of years. Panax is a plant used as a general tonic or adaptogen for chronically ill patients. The current study evaluated the cytotoxicity of Panax ginseng extract (PGE). Different cell lines (HCT-۱۱۶, LNCaP, and normal cell line VERO) were treated with different inhibitory agentsat different concentrations (۱۰۰۰, ۵۰۰, ۲۵۰, ۱۲۵, ۶۲.۵, and ۳۱.۲۵ µg/ml) as follows: G۱ (Methanol Panax ginseng extract, PGE), G۲ (Doxorubicin, DOX), and G۳ (Methanol Panax ginseng extract +DOX, PDD). Each inhibitory agent group was used to treat the cancerous cell lines HCT-۱۱۶, LNCaP, and normal cell line (VERO) to obtain IC۵۰% by MTT assay. The inhibitory ability of the ۱۰۰۰ μg/ml PGE was significantly increased in all the three-cell lines compared with other concentrations. The recorded data revealed that the inhibition ability of PGE and Doxorubicin towards the HCT-۱۱۶ cell line significantly increased compared with the other cell lines. The interaction between different PGE concentrations and cell lines showed that the ۱۰۰۰ μg/ml PEG had the highest inhibitory effects on HCT-۱۱۶ compared with other combinations. The interaction between different DOX concentrations and different types of cell lines showed that the ۱۰۰۰ μg/ml DOX had the highest inhibitory effects on LNCap compared with other combinations. The PGD inhibition ability reflected a significantly higher difference toward the HCT-۱۱۶ cell line as compared with other cell lines. IC۵۰% is the concentrations (µg/ml) to kill ۵۰% of cell line. It was calculated by MTT assay for three cell lines: HCT-۱۱۶, LNCaP, and VERO. The rate of effectiveness of the inhibitory factors (PGE, DOX, and PGD) showed highly significant differences toward the cell line HCT-۱۱۶ compared to the other cell lines. This indicates the safety of the PGE compound and its low toxicity toward normal cells, quite the opposite of cancer cells as compared to the common drug DOX and combined PGD (PGE+DOX). PGD combined with DOX (PGE + DOX) showed antagonistic results toward the HCT۱۱۶, LNCaP, and VERO cell lines, while UDE combined with DOX (UDE+DOX) showed synergistic activity.

Panax ginseng, HCT-۱۱۶, LNCap, Vero, Doxorubicin, interaction index, Selectivity index