Evaluation of cytotoxicity and oxidative stress induced by alcoholic extract and oil of Lepidium Sativum seeds in human liver cell line HepG2

Since, the primary site of drug metabolism is the liver, that plays a major role in metabolism, digestion, detoxification, and elimination of substances from the body, the present studies were designed to investigate the possible adverse effect of alcoholic extract of seeds of Lepidium sativum (LSA) and Lepidium sativum seed oil (LSO) on HepG2 cells, a human liver cell line. LSA and LSO induced cell viability by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) and neutral red uptake (NRU) assays. Morphological changes, lipid peroxidation, glutathione, catalase, and superoxide dismutase activities in HepG2 cells were studied. Cells were exposed to 25 to 1000 μg/ml of LSA and LSO for 24 h. The results show that LSA and LSO reduced cell viability, and altered the cellular morphology in dose dependent manner. Concentrations (100 to 1000 μg/ml) of LSA and LSO were found to be cytotoxic, whereas 50 μg/ml and lower concentrations did not cause any significant adverse effect in cell viability of HepG2 cells. LSA and LSO were also found to induce oxidative stress in dosedependent manner indicated by decrease in glutathione level, catalase activity, and SOD activity and an increase in lipid peroxidation. The results indicate that LSA and LSO induced oxidative stress mediated cytotoxicity in HepG2 cells.Keywords: Lepidium sativum, HepG2 cells, oxidative stress, cytoxicityAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(24), pp. 3854-386