Screening for Antitumor Activity of 11 Species of Indonesian Zingiberaceae Using Human MCF-7 and HT-29 Cancer Cells

Abstract

We have screened 11 important species of Zingiberaceae, used as spices and for medicinal purposes in Indonesia, for their antitumor activity using human HT-29 colon cancer and MCF-7 breast cancer cells. They were Amommum cardamomum, Curcuma aeruginosa, C. longa, C. mangga, C. xanthorrhiza, Kaempferia galanga, K. pandurata, K. rotunda, Z. aromaticum, Z. cassumunar, and Zingiber officinale. Ethanol extracts of eight species showed strong inhibitory effect on the growth of the cancer cells when evaluated using the colorimetric tetrazolium salt assay. Since curcumin, a yellow pigment isolated from C. longa, has shown its potential anticancer activity in vitro and in vivo studies and is currently undergone clinical trial in the US, we used an extract of C. longa as a comparison. Extracts of K. pandurata and Z. aromaticum had very strong inhibitory activity against the two cell lines similar to those of C. longa. However, curcumin was not detectable in the extracts of those two plants. The ethanol extracts of the active species had less effect on the growth of a non-transformed human skin fibroblast cell line (SF 3169). Microscopic examination of cancer cells exposed to extracts of active species showed a characteristic morphology of apoptosis. Further study on Z. aromaticum and K. pandurata, including identification of bioactive compounds and elucidation of mechanism(s) likely to be operating, has been carried out.

In vitro Evaluation of Antioxidant and Antiproliferative Activities of Artemisia nilagirica Extracts

“…The active extracts exhibited different activity on different cell lines. This variation in activity could be due to the different sensitivity of cell line towards the bioactive compounds in the extract or to tissue specific response [65] . The antiproliferative activity of active extracts may not be attribute to their toxicity as there was no apparent reduction in viability of controlled cultures of peritoneal macrophages at the same concentration.…”

Cytotoxicity of Stem Extracts of Selected Cassia Species Against Hela and Breast Cancer Cell Lines in Vitro

“…Different extracts of the plant exhibit different activity on different cell lines. This selectivity could be due to the sensitivity of the cell lines to the active compounds in the extract or to tissue-specific response [15]. However, further work is needed in the form of phytochemical screening and pharmacological activity of some more extracts about the therapeutic potential of these extracts.…”

Boesenbergia rotunda

“…It showed more potent inhibitory activities than the representative antitumour promoters such as β-carotene or quercetin. K. pandurata extract showed potent inhibitory activity in-vitro against human MCF-7 and HT-29 cancer cells (Kirana et al 2003 ). Panduratin A, a chalcone derivative isolated from B. pandurata , was found to inhibit the growth of MCF-7 human breast cancer and HT-29 human colon adenocarcinoma cells with an IC 50 of 3.75 and 6.56 μg/ml, respectively (Kirana et al 2007 ).…”