Cytotoxic effect of root extract of Tiliacora racemosa and oil of Semecarpus anacardium nut in human tumour cells

• Published in: Phytotherapy research Vol. 18; no. 8; pp. 595 - 600
• Main Authors: Chakraborty, S, Roy, M, Taraphdar, A.K, Bhattacharya, R.K
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester, UK John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 01-08-2004; Wiley
• Subjects: Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic - administration & dosage; Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic - pharmacology; Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic - therapeutic use; apoptosis; Apoptosis - drug effects; Biological and medical sciences; caspase activity; Cell Line, Tumor - drug effects; cytotoxicity; DNA fragmentation; DNA Fragmentation - drug effects; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Fruit; General pharmacology; HeLa Cells - drug effects; HL-60 Cells - drug effects; Humans; K562 Cells - drug effects; Medical sciences; Medicine, Ayurvedic; Pharmacognosy. Homeopathy. Health food; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Phytotherapy; Plant Extracts - administration & dosage; Plant Extracts - pharmacology; Plant Extracts - therapeutic use; Plant Oils - administration & dosage; Plant Oils - pharmacology; Plant Oils - therapeutic use; Plant Roots; Plants, Medicinal; S. anacardium; Semecarpus; T. racemosa; tumour cells; Nuts; caspase activity; Cytotoxicity; Extract; Fragmentation; Medicinal plant; Dicotyledones; Angiospermae; T-Lymphocyte; DNA fragmentation; Anacardium; Tumor cell; Anacardiaceae; Human; Root; Enzyme; Pharmacognosy; Caspase; S. anacardium; cytotoxicity: apoptosis: tumour cells: T. racemosa; Peptidases; Oil; Cell death; DNA; Hydrolases; Spermatophyta; Apoptosis
• ISSN: 0951-418X; 1099-1573
• DOI: 10.1002/ptr.1501

Tiliacora racemosa and Semecarpus anacardium, the two plants frequently used in Ayurvedic medicine for the treatment of cancerous diseases, have been selected to examine their action in four human tumour cell lines: acute myeloblastic leukaemia (HL‐60), chronic myelogenic leukaemia (K‐562), breast adenocarcinoma (MCF‐7) and cervical epithelial carcinoma (HeLa). In cells grown in appropriate media the ethanol extract of T. racemosa root, the total alkaloids isolated from this organ and S. anacardium nut oil prepared according to the Ayurvedic principle were found to have cytotoxic activity. The alkaloid fraction from T. racemosa had maximum cytotoxicity and was effective against all four cell lines. S. anacardium oil was cytotoxic only in leukaemic cells. These herbal preparations were not cytotoxic towards normal human lymphocytes, suggesting their action is specific for tumour cells. On microscopic examination the cells treated with these agents exhibited characteristic morphological features of apoptosis, such as cell shrinkage, and the formation of apoptotic bodies. Fluorescent staining with propidium iodide revealed distinct chromatin condensation and nuclear fragmentation. The apoptotic index paralleled the cytotoxic parameters, and fragmented DNA extracted free of genomic DNA from treated cells displayed a typical ladder pattern on gel electrophoresis. Apoptosis induced by alkaloids and phenolics, the active principles present in T. racemosa and S. anacardium, respectively, was found to be mediated by the activation of caspases. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.