In vitro cytotoxic activity of extracts from Hibiscus sabdariffa leaves against human lung cancer cell lines

P Worawattananutai; S Ruangnoo; A Itharat

doi:10.1055/s-0034-1394922

Planta Medica, Inhaltsverzeichnis

In vitro cytotoxic activity of extracts from Hibiscus sabdariffa leaves against human lung cancer cell lines

P Worawattananutai ¹, S Ruangnoo ², A Itharat ²^,³

¹Student of Doctor of Philosophy (Nutraceutical) Faculty of Medicine, Thammasat University, Pathumthani 12120, Thailand
²Department of Applied Thai Traditional Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Thammasat University, Klongluang, Pathumthani 12120, Thailand
³Center of Excellence in Applied Thai Traditional Medicine Research (CEATMR), Faculty of Medicine, Thammasat University, Klongluang, Pathumthani 12120, Thailand

Abstract

Hibiscus sabdariffa (HS) leaves are extensively used as laxative and blood tonic in Thai Traditional Medicine. They are used as healthy sour soup for prevention of chronic diseases in the central part of Thailand. Therefore the cytotoxic activity of different extracts of fresh and dried H. sabdariffa leaves was investigated via the sulforhodamine B (SRB) assay [1] against three types of human lung cancer cell lines, namely the human large cell lung carcinoma cell line (COR-L23), the human lung squamous carcinoma cell line (NCI-H226) and the adenocarcinoma human alveolar basal epithelial cell line (A549). Extraction methods were squeezing, boiling with water and maceration with 95% or 50% ethanol. The 95% ethanolic extracts of H. sabdariffa dried leaves (HSDE95) showed highest cytotoxicity against all types of lung cancer cell lines with an IC₅₀ against COR-L23, NCI-H226 and A549 of 6.37 ± 0.19, 7.84 ± 0.40 and 14.98 ± 0.34 µg/ml, respectively. Therefore this extract can be classified as “active” according to the NCI guideline which indicates that IC₅₀ values of an active cytotoxic plant extract have to be below 20 µg/ml [2]. HSDE95 showed potent in vitro cytotoxic activity against all human lung cancer cells. The extract therefore should be further investigated for the active compounds against the human lung cancer cells.

Keywords: Hibiscus sabdariffa, cytotoxicity, human lung cancer cell

References:

[1] Skehan P, Storeng R, Scudiero D, Monks A, McMahon J, Vistica D, et al. New colorimetric cytotoxicity assay for anticancer-drug screening. Journal of the National Cancer Institute. 1990, 82(13): 1107 – 12.

[2] Boyed MR. The NCI in vitro anticancer drug discovery screen. In: Teicher B, editor. Anticancer drug development guide: preclinical screening, clinical trials and approval Totowa, NJ: Humana Press. 1997: 23 – 42.