Anticancer mechanisms of Strobilanthes crispa Blume hexane extract on liver and breast cancer cell lines

Abstract

Abstract. Cancer is a major public health concern not only in developed countries, but also in developing countries. It is one of the leading causes of mortality worldwide. However, current treatments may cause severe side effects and harm. Therefore, recent research has been focused on identifying alternative therapeutic agents extracted from plant-based sources in order to develop novel treatment options for cancer. Strobilanthes crispa Blume is a plant native to countries including Madagascar and Indonesia. It has been used as an anti-diabetic, diuretic and laxative in traditional folk medicine. Furthermore, S. crispa has potential in treating cancer, as evidenced in previous studies. In the present study, the cytotoxic and apoptotic activities of S. crispa crude extracts were investigated in liver and breast cancer cell lines. Hexane, ethyl acetate, chloroform, methanol and water extracts prepared from the leaves, and stems of S. crispa were evaluated for their cytotoxicity on HepG-2 and MDA-MB-231 cells using an MTT assay. The anti-proliferative properties of stem hexane (SH) extract on both cell lines were analysed using cell doubling time determination and cell cycle analysis, while the apoptogenic properties was determined through the detection of caspase-8. Among the extracts tested, SH extract exhibited the lowest half maximal inhibitory concentrations in both the cell lines. The SH extract induced morphological changes in HepG-2 and MDA-MB-231 cells, and significantly delayed cell population doubling time. Furthermore, it altered cell cycle profile and significantly increased caspase-8 activity in HepG-2 cells, but not in MDA-MB-231 cells. In conclusion, the SH extract of S. crispa possesses potent anticancer properties and may be a suitable chemotherapeutic target. IntroductionCancer is characterized by uncontrolled growth and spreading of abnormal cells. It is one of the most life-threatening and challenging diseases of modern time, caused by a number of internal factors, including immune condition and inherited mutation, and external factors, including radiation, tobacco and chemical exposure (1). Liver, breast, colorectal, lung, cervical and nasopharyngeal cancer are the most prevalent cancer types in the modern age. The present study focused on liver and breast cancer due to their high occurrence rates. In 2006, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) was identified to account for 70-85% of total primary liver cancer types (2). HCC is primarily caused by chronic viral hepatitis B or C infection, iron overload, aflotoxin exposure, obesity, alcohol-associated cirrhosis and possibly non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (3,4). Breast cancer continues to be the leading cause of cancer-associated mortality among women (5), and the occurrence rate has increased in China and other Asian countries (6,7). Breast cancer can be categorized into two main types, ductal carcinoma and lobular carcinoma. Ductal carcinoma begins in the ducts that transport milk from the breast to the nipple, whereas lobular carcinoma starts i...

Bioactivity Guided Fractionation and Elucidation of Anti-Cancer Properties of Imperata Cylindrica Leaf Extracts

“…Data from the present study clearly establish the potential of ICLH extract to inhibit cell proliferation and induce apoptosis in the SCC-9 cells. These data also corroborate with similar studies performed with n-hexane extracts of other plants (Belayachi et al, 2014;Shahraki et al, 2015;Koh et al, 2017;Ng et al, 2017) including other grass species (Saleh et al, 2019). The cell cycle arrest observed at both G0/G1 and the G2/M phases of the cell cycle suggest that the active components of the extract could be acting through the G0/G1 and G2/M checkpoint machinery.…”

“…The cell cycle arrest is induced in the G0/G1 phase of the cell cycle (Saleh et al, 2019). Similar cell cycle inhibitory properties against leukemic, hepatocellular carcinoma, and breast cancer cell lines have been reported for several n-hexane extracts of various plants (Belayachi et al, 2014;Koh et al, 2017). In corroboration with these results, data from the present study showed significant induction of cell cycle arrest at both G0/G1 and G2/M phases of the cell cycle in SCC-9 cells treated with 640 μg/ml of ICLH fraction (Figure 2).…”

“…Cytotoxicity of n-hexane extracts of Aleuropus logopoides, a grass species has been reported in breast, colon and liver cancer cell lines (Saleh et al, 2019). The IC50 concentrations of n-hexane extracts of the various plants showing antiproliferative activity ranged from 24 to 2000 μg/ml (Saleh et al, 2019;Koh et al, 2017;Ng et al, 2017;Shahraki et al, 2015).…”

“…Similar studies with n-hexane extracts of various plants have shown to inhibit of cell proliferation. For example, antiproliferative activity of the n-hexane fraction of Nigella sativa was shown against ACHN metastatic cell lines and transformed cell line GP-293 (Shahraki et al, 2015); Extracts from Clinacanthus nutans was toxic against human lung carcinoma and hepatocellular carcinoma (Ng et al, 2017); Strobilanthes crispa, extracts acted against hepatocellular carcinoma and breast cancer cells (Koh et al, 2017). Cytotoxicity of n-hexane extracts of Aleuropus logopoides, a grass species has been reported in breast, colon and liver cancer cell lines (Saleh et al, 2019).…”

“…The n-hexane extracts of Retama monosperma, induced apoptosis in leukemic cells (Belayachi et al, 2014). Studies performed with n-hexane extract of Strobilanthes crispa, showed significant caspase 8 activation in hepatocellular carcinoma cells (Koh et al, 2017); n-hexane extracts of Clinacanthus nutans also showed induction of apoptosis by significant upregulation of caspase 3/7, 8 and 9 in human lung carcinoma and hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines (Ng et al, 2017).…”