Research ArticleEffect of crude saponins from Effect of crude saponins from Effect of crude saponins from Gaul-GaulGaultheria trichophylla theria trichophylla theria trichophylla extract on extract on extract on growth inhibition in human colorecgrowth inhibition in human colorecgrowth inhibition in human colorectal cancer cells tal cancer cells tal cancer cells BJP IntroductionColorectal cancer is the third most common malignant neoplasm worldwide and has become one of the major causes of cancer mortality (Siegel et al. , 2013). Several studies revealed that loss of control of apoptosis results in initiation of cancer and therefore, many new treatment procedures targeting apoptosis are feasible and may be used to treat various types of cancers (Wong, 2011).It is well known that in the past some medicinally important plants like Catharanthus roseus, Podophyllum peltatum and Taxus brevifolia and others provided therapeutically active metabolites which were used to control the advance stages of malignancies (Farnsworth and Soejarto, 1991). However, most of these chemotherapeutic agents showed untoward effects like mutagenicity and teratogenicity. Therefore, as always, there is need to find alternative drugs with low toxicity, more effective and accessible to common man.The present study was carried out to investigate the anticancer activity of crude extract and respective saponins fraction of Gaultheria trichophylla in cultured human colorectal cancer cells (Caco-2).G. trichophylla belongs to family Ericaceae which consists of 90 genera and over 1,700 species. It is native to Himalayas and commonly known as Himalayan snowberry (Huang, 2003). The flowers range in colour from red, to pink; fruits are blue-coloured berries; and small green leaves are approximately 3-7 mm in length. This plant is an inhabitant of cold and lofty locations of the mountains and like many plants of such locations, it is furnished with setae. The calyx is adherent to the lower part of the capsule, becomes succulent, and forms an edible fruit in the AbstractThe genus Gaultheria also comprised of species with reported cytotoxic activities. Current research work was carried out to evaluate G. trichophylla crude extract and respective saponins fraction against human colorectal cancer cell line (Caco-2) based on cell viability assays. Caco-2 cells treated with the crude extract showed significant growth inhibition (p< 0.001) in a dose dependent manner with apparent IC50 value of 200 μg/mL and 100 μg/ mL in MTT and NRU assays respectively. The fractioned crude saponins showed an enhanced response and inhibited the growth of Caco-2 by 93.6 and 97.4% in MTT and NRU assays respectively, with compared to actinomycin-D (65%). The DAPI staining of cell treated with crude saponins observed under confocal microscope showed shrunken nuclei with apparent nuclear fragmentation and chromatin condensation indicating apoptosis mode of cell death. The study exhibited that the G. Trichophylla saponins induced apoptosis of Caco-2 cell lines. This study provides...