Objective:This study was conducted to investigate the antiproliferative activity of extracts of Clinacanthus nutans leaves against human cervical cancer (HeLa) cells. Methods: C. nutans leaves were subjected to extraction using 80% methanol or water. The methanol extract was further extracted to obtain hexane, dichloromethane (DCM), and aqueous fractions. The antiproliferative activity of the extracts against HeLa cells was determined. The most cytotoxic extract was furthered analyzed by apoptosis and cell cycle assays, and the phytochemical constituents were screened by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Results:All of the extracts were antiproliferative against HeLa cells, and the DCM fraction had the lowest IC50 value of 70 µg/mL at 48 h. Microscopic studies showed that HeLa cells exposed to the DCM fraction exhibited marked morphological features of apoptosis. The flow cytometry study also confirmed that the DCM fraction induced apoptosis in HeLa cells, with cell cycle arrest at the S phase. GC-MS analysis revealed the presence of at least 28 compounds in the DCM fraction, most of which were fatty acids. Conclusion:The DCM fraction obtained using the extraction method described herein had a lower IC50 value than those reported in previous studies that characterized the anticancer activity of C. nutans against HeLa cells.

Despite the availability of anticancer drugs, breast cancer remains the most death-causing tumor-related disease in women. Hence, there is a need for discovery and development of efficient alternative drugs, and sources such as plants need to be explored. In this study, antioxidant capacities and inhibitory effects against MCF7 cells of the extracts of stem bark of three Nigerian medicinal plants (Detarium microcarpum, Guiera senegalensis, and Cassia siamea) were investigated. The D. microcarpum extracts had the highest antioxidant and antiproliferative effects, followed by that of G. senegalensis, and the C. siamea extracts had minimal effects. The IC50 values of the methanol and aqueous extracts from the three plants that inhibited the proliferation of MCF7 cells ranged from 78–> 500 μg/ml. Moreover, all the plant extracts but the aqueous extract of Cassia siamea exhibited antimetastatic action and induced apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in MCF7 cells. Liquid chromatography/time-of-flight/mass spectrometry profiling revealed that the five potent extracts contain many phenols and omega-6 fatty acids, and some of the identified compounds (isorhamnetin, eupatorin, alpinumisoflavone, procyanidin B3, syringin, and gallic acid) have been reported to have antiproliferative effects on cancer cells. Hence, the stem bark of these plants could be potential sources of antibreast cancer agents.

No abstract

No abstract

Clinacanthus nutans dichloromethane fraction (CN-Dcm) extract has previously been proven to suppress breast cancer (MCF7) cell proliferation. Despite this, the molecular mechanisms involved in C. nutans extract-treated MCF7 cells are unknown. Hence, the molecular mechanism of apoptosis in treated MCF7 was investigated in this current study. This study was intended to subfractionate CN-Dcm extract using column chromatography and analysed the treated MCF7 cells using the CellTiter 96® AQueous One Solution Cell Proliferation (MTS) assay, Annexin V/propidium iodide (PI) assay, western blot and reverse transcription-qualitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Out of nine subfraction extracts (SF1 to SF9), SF2 extract strongly inhibited MCF7 cells with the lowest IC50 value (23.51 ± 0.99 µg/mL) and substantially induced apoptosis in the MCF7 cells. SF2 extract significantly downregulated BCL-2 expression and upregulated P53, BAX, BID, BCL-2, caspase-8, caspase-9 and caspase-3 expressions in treated MCF7 cells. Therefore, SF2 extract was analysed using liquid chromatography coupled to quadrupole time–of–flight mass spectrometry (LC-QTOF-MS), which confirmed the presence of bioactive chemical compounds. Thus, it can be concluded that the compounds found in SF2 extract may potentially cause apoptosis in MCF7 cells through intrinsic and extrinsic pathways.