ABSTRACT
Cancer has been considered one of these major community healthiness problems. Althaea ludwigii L.(family: Malvaceae)is an indigenous plant, widely distributed in Iraq. The objective of this study is to explore the antiproliferative action ofA. ludwigii L. against breast cancer cell line Michigan Cancer Foundation-7 (MCF-7) and rate embryonic fibroblasts(REF) normal cell line and to identify the bioactive constituent. The aerial parts of A. ludwigii L. were grinded intofine powder then extracted with 85% methanol. Methanol extract was further partitioned with ethyl acetate. Ethylacetate fraction was chosen to test against MCF-7 by (3-[4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2, 5 (MTT assay) the bioactiveconstituents were investigated by high performance thin layer chromatography high-performance thin-layerchromatography (HPTLC). The data showed that ethyl acetate fraction has significant antiproliferative activity againstMCF-7 (IC50 = 35.5 µg/ml) and REF (IC50 = 1762.9 µg/ml), HPTLC showed the existence of rutin in ethyl acetatefraction. The antiproliferative activity may relate to the existence of rutin which had been approved as potent anticancer.