RESUMO
Background: Various researchers have stated a causal association of betle quid chewing with oral cancer and other potentially malignant disorders of oral cavity. On the contrary, Piper betle leaf when used alone has potential medicinal benefits including anticancer, anti-helminthic, hepato-protective and antioxidant activities. In this is study we examined the anti-cancer activity of Piper betle extract (aqueous) on KB- cancer cell lines Aims: To observe the anti- cancer activity of Piper betle leaf extract on KB cancer cell lines. Setting and Design: The study was conducted in Biogenix Research Centre, Thiruvananthapuram. The KB cancer cell lines were procured from NCCS, Pune. Methods and Material: The cancer cell lines were treated with increasing concentration of Piper betle leaf extract 6.25,12,25,50 & 100?g/ml. The cytotoxic effect of the extract on the cells was studied by physical indicators of cytotoxic changes by observing the cells under an inverted phase contrast microscope, for any detectable changes in the cell morphology and by MTT assay method to assess the percentage of viability of cells. Results: The cancer cells showed considerable changes in the cell morphology suggestive of cell cytotoxicity and apoptosis after the treatment with the extract. The results of the MTT assay showed that the percentage viability of the cancer cells decreased with increasing concentrations of the extract, The percentage of viability of cells was noted to be 43.42% with the highest concentration of 100?g/ml of Piper betle leaf extract which proves that Piper betle leaf extract has anticancer activity. Conclusion: The cytotoxic potential of Piper betle leaf may be used to develop chemotherapeutic agent, but further focused studies of anticancer properties and isolation of compounds from Piper betle leaf are necessary to prove its worth in the cancer therapy.
RESUMO
Several studies have revealed that certain naturally occurring medicinal plants inhibit the growth of various cancers. The present study was conducted to evaluate cytotoxicity and apoptotic induction potential of Myristica fragrans Houtt mace extract. The cytotoxic activity of the Myristica fragrans Houtt mace acetone extract was assayed by MTT assay on human oral epidermal carcinoma KB cell lines. KB cells were incubated with different concentration of mace extract ranging from 25 to 125 µg/mL for 24hrs. The apoptotic induction potential was also studied by the analysis of Bcl-2 protein and gene expression in mace extract incubated KB cell lines using western blotting technique and real-time polymerase chain reaction. The mace extract exhibited cytotoxicity and anticancer effect against KB cell lines and it also suppressed the growth of cancer cells, therefore growth inhibitory effect was noted in extract treated cell lines. The apoptotic potential of mace extract was accompanied by reduced gene expression of Bcl-2 compared to the untreated KB cells. The mace extract shows the cytotoxic activity and induced the apoptosis through the modulation of its target genes Bcl-2 in the KB cell lines, suggesting the potential of mace as a candidate for oral cancer chemoprevention. This can be further investigated in vivo for its anticancer potential.