Cervical cancer is one of leading causes of cancer death in women in the developing countries. The use of cisplatin as chemotherapy agent in cervical cancer is known to cause side effects and also resistance for long-term uses. One of the strategies to prevent cervical cancer based on combination agents is being developed. Leunca (Solanum nigrum L.) has been revealed to inhibit growth of human cancer cells. Therefore, it can be used in combination with cisplatin to reduce those side effects and prevent the occurrence of cell resistance. Ethanolic extract of Leunca Herb (ELH) and cisplatin were tested their cytotoxic effect on HeLa cervical cancer cell by using MTT assay to determine IC50 value. The combinationss of cisplatin-ELH were tested to determine the combination index (CI value). The IC50 of ELH and cisplatin on HeLa cells were 227 µg/mL and 17 µM. rRespectively. Tthe study of combination resulted that almost all the index combinations were <0,9 showed the effect of synergism combination. The Ooptimum concentration of combination was 1/8 IC50 cisplatin-1/8 IC50 ELH. The results indicated that ELH had a potency to be combination agent to enhance the activity of cisplatin on HeLa cervical cancer cells. Therefore, further study on its molecular mechanism needs to be explored.

Solanum nigrum L. or Leunca in Indonesia has been traditionally used as a herbal plant, which is believed to have anti-tumor properties, although the mechanism for the activity remains unknown. The resecarch aim to examine the cytotoxic effect of the ethanolic extract of Solanum nigrum on WiDr human colon cancer cells. In this study, we prepared an ethanol extract from herb of Solanum nigrum and investigated the mechanism involved in its growth-inhibitory effect on WiDr human colon cancer cells. Herbs of Solanum nigrum dry powder is extracted with 70% ethanol then added into the WiDr cell culture in 96 wells plate in various concentration : 50, 100, 250, and 500 µg/ml. Cytotoxicity of the Solanum nigrum ethanolic extract was analyzed with MTT assay on WiDr human colon cancer cell lines. Results from the MTT assay showed WiDr cells was weakly suppressed in the presence of the extract. The result of the assay also showed a very close correlation between the Solanum nigrum extract concentration and the surviving cell numbers which means the extract caused cell death in a dose-dependent fashion in WiDr cancer cells with the IC50 of 359,23 µg/ml. Collectively, the research suggest further studies to explore other chemopreventive possibilites of Solanum nigrum ethanolic extract

Arecoline, the main alcaloid of Areca cathecu L has been proven to posses cytotoxic activity against various cancer cell lines. The research conducted to examine the cytotoxic activity of arecoline alone and its combination with doxorubicin against HeLa cervical cancer cell line. Single treatment of arecoline in various concentration on HeLa cancer cell were done followed by the combinational treatment with doxorubicin. The cell viability as the parameter of cytotoxicity was measured using MTT (3-(4,5-dimetiltiazol-2-il)-2,5-difeniltetrazolium bromide) assay. The apoptotic effect was examined by double staining assay using etidium bromide-acridin orange. Arecoline did not show potent cytotoxicity effect against HeLa since the value of IC50 is 462 µM. The combinational treatment of arecoline and doxorubicin showed synergicity with the optimum CI value is 0.48 given by the treatment of 30mM arecoline combined with 125 nM doxorubicin. The result of this study shows that arecoline has potential to be proposed as co-chemotherapeutic agent for cervical cancer. However, further study on its molecular mechanism needs to be conducted.