Primula auriculata extracts exert cytotoxic and apoptotic effects against HT-29 human colon adenocarcinoma cells

Primula auriculata [Tootia] is one of the most important local medicinal plants in Hamedan district, Iran. To investigate cytotoxicity and apoptosis induction of crude methanolic extract and different fraction of it we compared several methods on HT-29 human colon Adenocarcinoma cells. Cancer cell proliferation was measured by 3-[4, 5-dimethylthiazolyl]-2, 5-diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide [MTT] assay and apoptosis induction was analyzed by fluorescence microscopy [acridin orange/ethidium bromide, annexin V/propidium iodide staining, TUNEL assay and Caspase-3 activity assay]. Crude methanolic extract [CM] inhibited the growth of malignant cells in a dose-dependent manner. Among solvent fractions, the dichloromethane fraction [CF] was found to be the most toxic compared to other fractions. With double staining methods, high percentage of 40 microg/mL of [CM] and [CF] treated cells exhibited typical characteristics of apoptotic cells. Apoptosis induction was also revealed by Apoptotic fragmentation of nuclear DNA and activation of caspas-3 in treated cells. These findings indicate that crude methanolic extract and dichloromethan fraction of P.auriculata induced apoptosis and inhibited proliferation in colon cancer cells and could be used as a source for new lead structures in drug design to combat colon cancer

Cytotoxic activity of some medicinal plants from Hamedan district of Iran

Medicinal plants have been investigated for possible anti-cancer effects. The aim of the present study was to examine the cytotoxic activity of several medicinal plants on different tumor cell lines. 11 selected plant species which have been used in folkloric prescriptions were collected from different sites of Hamedan district of Iran. The methanolic extracts of the plants were prepared and their cytotoxic effects on four human cancer cell lines [A549, human lung adenocarcinoma; MCF7, human breast adenocarcinoma; HepG2, hepatocellular carcinoma and HT-29, human colon carcinoma] and one normal cell line [MDBK, bovine kidney] were examined using the MTT assay. Three of these were exhibited antiproliferative activity against one or more of the cell lines. The extract from Primula auriculata demonstrated the highest cytotoxicity with IC[50] of 25.79, 35.79 and 43.34 micro g.mL[?1] against MCF7, HepG2 and HT-29 cells, respectively. For some of the plants, their traditional use was correlated with the cytotoxic results, whereas for others the results may support the non-cytotoxicity of species used traditionally as natural remedies. The cytotoxic species could be considered as potential of anticancer compounds