E3 Journal of Medical Research

E3 Journal of Medical Research Vol. 1 (4) pp. 038-043, May 2012; © E3 Journals; ISSN 2276-9900

Antiproliferative activity of primates-consumed plants against MCF-7 human breast cancer cell lines

Abstract

Primate-consumed plants are assumed to be a promising source of therapeutic agents since primates can survive and be cured from any disease by their daily consumed food. In the course of our study to search for anticancer agents, we evaluated 42 species of plants usually consumed by primates for their antiproliferative activity against cell lines of human breast adenocarcinoma (MCF-7). In this study, crude ethanol extracts of the plants were tested using MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazolyl-2)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay. The results showed that four extracts of Dysoxylum caulostachyum, Eugenia aquea, Garcinia celebica, and Psychotria valentonic leaves strongly inhibited the MCF-7 cell proliferation with IC50 values of 12, 58, 87, and 87 μg/ml, respectively. Further examination on the fractions of the four extracts indicated that the ethyl acetate fraction of D. caulostachyum, the n-hexane fractions of E. aquea and G. celebica, and the water fraction of P. valentonic were the most active fractions with the IC50 of 78 , 24, 60, and 23 μg/ml, respectively. These results suggest that primate-consumed plants might have potential as a source of anticancer agents.

Keywords: Anticancer; primate; cell lines; proliferation