ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL EVALUATION OF MEDICINAL PLANTS FOR CYTOTOXICITY AGAINST VARIOUS CANCER CELL LINES

Objective: To evaluate the cytotoxic potential of leaves and seeds of Hibiscus sabdariffa L., fruit juice of Phyllanthus emblica, rhizomes of Dryopteris cochleata and flowers of Caesalpinia decapetala (Roth) Alston along with the chemical profiling of the most toxic extract through Gas-mass spectroscopy-MS technique.Methods: The hydroalcoholic extract of the selected crude drugs was prepared by maceration method and the extracts were undergone through phytochemical analysis. The cytotoxic activity of the hydroalcoholic extract was performed against four cancer cell lines i.e. liver (HepG2), breast (MCF7), prostate (PC-3) and leukemia (HL60) using sulphorhodamine B assay. The hydroalcoholic extract of Caesalpinia decapetala flowers was profiled through using gas mass spectroscopy.Results: The results confirmed that Phyllanthus emblica inhibited HL60 cancer cells at the dose of 35.6 µg/ml and show dose-dependent growth inhibition. The flowers of Caesalpinia decapetala inhibited nearly fifty percent of HL60 cancer cells at very low dose i. e 10 µg/ml. The analysis of Caesalpinia decapetala flowers shows the presence of diterpenoid furanolactones, bufadienolides, polycyclic enones, and androsterone.Conclusion: The fruit juice of Phyllanthus emblica and flowers of Caesalpinia decapetala showed good inhibitory activity against HL60 cancer cell line. The use of Phyllanthus emblica in herbal medicine is justified. The data obtained impelled to further assess the in vivo efficacy of Caesalpinia decapetala flowers for anticancer activity