EXPLORING ANTICANCER POTENTIAL OF CENTAUREA BEHEN L., ELAEOCARPUS GANITRUS ROXB, GLORIOSA SUPERBA L. AND FICUS RELIGIOSA L. AGAINST HUMAN LUNG CANCER (A-549) CELL LINES

Background: Phytochemicals form the basis of research and development of new molecules leading to the development of new novel drugs. In the oncology sector, plants have contributed more than 60% of the anti-cancer drugs, directly or indirectly. The present study Aims and Objectives: was conducted with the objective to explore the antitumor activity of various extracts obtained from dried roots of Centaurea behen L., dried fruits/beads of Elaeocarpus ganitrus Roxb., dried roots of Gloriosa superba L. and dried leaves of Ficus religiosa L. against human lung cancer (A 549) cell lines. Method: Phytoconstituents were extracted by Soxhlet method using hexane, chloroform, methanol and water as solvents. MTT assay was used to nd the anti-proliferative potential of these plant extracts. The trypan blue dye exclusion test was used to determine the number of viable cells present in a cell suspension. Cytotoxic activity was also evaluated against non-cancerous cell lines (MCF-10A). Results: On A-549 cell lines, 93% cell death was reported with G. superba aqueous extract followed by E. ganitrus methanol extract and F. religiosa hexane extract and C. behen aqueous extract with 87%, 81.61% and 75 % cell death respectively. However, none of the extracts showed cytotoxic effect upon testing against normal non-cancerous cell lines (MCF- 10A). Conclusions: The results of the current ndings prove that phytoconstituents present in these plant extracts have high anticancer potential. This study strongly suggests the possibility of medicinal plants as an important source of anticancer drug development.