Phytochemistry and toxicological assessment of Bryonia dioica roots used in north-African alternative medicine

To investigate the phytochemical composition, acute and sub-acute toxicity of the aqueous extract of B. dioica roots. The phytochemical analysis was performed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The acute toxicity of the aqueous extract of B.dioica roots was assessed in mice with single doses ranging from 250 to 1000 mg/kg for 14 days. The sub-acute toxicity was carried out with repeated doses ranging from 64.5 to 250 mg/kg for 28 days. Histopathological changes and markers of renal and liver function were investigated. The results of GC-MS analysis showed the presence of interesting phytoconstituents. The clinical symptoms and mortalities that occurred in treated mice were more remarkable due to the increasing sample concentration of the studied extract. However, no mortalities, or histopathological, or biochemical disturbances were observed even at the maximal dose administered (250 mg/kg). The outcome of the present work suggests that the treatment of animals with single doses of B. dioica roots extract higher than 250 mg/kg produces significant toxicities, however, treatment with repeated doses up to 250 mg/kg for 28 days seems to be safe for animals

Cytotoxic, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of Nerium oleander collected in Morocco

Objective: To investigate the cytotoxic, antioxidant and antibacterial activities of ethanolic and aqueous crude extracts of Nerium oleander (N. oleander) leaves. Methods: Cytotoxic activities were evaluated by WST-1 bioassay on two human cancer cell lines, namely human colon adenocarcinoma cell line HT-29 and human breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231. The antioxidant property of N. oleander extracts was assessed by DPPH scavenging and β -carotene bleaching tests. The agar disc diffusion method was used for the determination of antimicrobial activity against different strains. Results: Using cell viability indices, the WST-1 test revealed that both extracts reduced cell viability in both cell lines. Our results also showed that aqueous extract was more active than ethanolic extract, with IC50 values of (1.67±0.22) μg/mL and (2.36±0.44) μg/mL on MDA-MB-231 cells, and (2.89±0.35) μg/mL and (5.09±0.52) μg/mL on HT29 cells, respectively. The study of the antioxidant activity showed that N. oleander extracts had a considerable scavenging capacity and exerted a significant preventive effect against the oxidation of β -carotene by the peroxide radicals. However, the antibacterial test showed that both ethanolic and aqueous extracts of N. oleander had a moderate antibacterial effect limited only to Gram-positive bacteria. Conclusions: Our results shows that N. oleander aqueous and ethanolic extracts have significant cytotoxic activities against tumor cell lines and possesses a strong antioxidant capacity, suggesting the presence of active compounds in N. oleander leaves that could be a potential source of phytochemicals with high medicinal value to be used in cancer treatment and prevention

Cytotoxicity of the Aqueous Extract and Organic Fractions from Origanum majorana on Human Breast Cell Line MDA-MB-231 and Human Colon Cell Line HT-29

The toxicity of the aqueous extract of Origanum majorana was tested (5 and 10 g/kg) in albino mice. No symptoms of toxicity or mortality were observed. The mice survived being active and healthy during all 14 days of observation. In addition, the weight measurement of the left and right kidneys, heart, and liver shows no significant difference between the control, 5 g/kg, and 10 g/kg. All extracts (aqueous, petroleum ether, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate, methanolic, and depleted aqueous extracts) of Origanum majorana tested against both types of cancer cells showed a more pronounced cytotoxic effect against breast cell line MDA-MB-231 than colon cells line HT-29 cells. The most marked effect is that of the ethyl acetate extract with IC50 30.90 ± 1.39 and 50.11 ± 1.44 (µg/ml), respectively. HPLC analysis of extracts from Origanum majorana showed that this plant contained polyphenols and flavonoids, which may be responsible for the biological activities found

Phytoactifs used in anticancer therapy: a review

International audienceMedicinal plants continue to generate interest in pharmacological research and development of new anticancer agent. Approximately 64% of drugs used in cancer chemotherapy are from plants materials with different modes of action. This study proposes to list the natural compounds having the capacity to inhibit or reduce the development of cancer in order to identify their mechanisms of action and mode of signalization involved in the process of carcinogenesis, vinblastine, vincristine, topotecan, irinotecan, etoposide, taxol and paclitaxel are drugs derived from natural resources used in the treatment of a wide variety of cancers. Data on safety and efficacy are available for an even few number of plants

Cytotoxic activity, acute and sub-acute toxicity of methanolic root extract of Corrigiola telephiifolia pourr

International audienc

Ethnopharmacological studies of Mesembryanthemum nodiflorum

International audienceEthnopharmacological surveys conducted in Morocco allowed us to identify many plants species, the most prescribed and used in traditional medicine to treat cancer. From these species, we chose to study Mesembryanthemum nodiflorum. We prepa-ed various extracts (alkaloid, cyclohexane, dichloromethane and methanolic) of the Mesembryanthemum nodiflorum aerial parts, the phytochemical studies revealed that the plant contains sterols, sapogenines, triterpenes, tannins and alkaloids. The chemical analysis of cyclohexane extract results in the identification of known con-stituents and the alkaloid extract has been studied by different chromatographic methods to isolate many fractions and to study their chemical composition. These investigations revealed the presence of hordenin. Cytotoxic activities were screened by an in vitro assay system of growth inhibition against two human cancer cell line, namely breast cancer cell line (MCF7) and cervix adenocarcinoma (HeLa), and the results demonstrated that all various extract of Mesembryanthmum nodiflrum did not show significant cytotoxic activity on MCF and Hela cells, at concentrations ranging from 31.25 to 1000 μg/ml. The antioxidant activity of various extracts of M. nodiflo-rum was evaluated by DPPH test and showed that all extract exhibited higher radical scavenging activity, as to standard used, Trolox. The dichlorometh-ane extract of Mesembryanthemum nodiflorum present an anti-radical activity esti-mated to 94.39 ±0.51% (p<0.001). These results suggest that the products of Mese-mbryantemum nodiflorum may provide a new therapeutic avene

Citrullus colocynthis (L.) Schrad: Chemical characterization, scavenging and cytotoxic activities

Citrullus colocynthis (L.) Schrad (C. colocynthis) called colocynth is a wild species that belongs to the family cucurbitaceae. The present research work aimed to study the phytochemical composition, cytotoxic and antioxidant activities of C. colocynthis seed extract. The chemical characterization of C. colocynthis seeds was effectuated using a gas chromatograph coupled to a mass spectrometer (GC-MS). The cytotoxic activity of C. colocynthis seed extract against breast cancer cell lines (MDA-MB-231) and colon cancer cell lines (HT-29) was assessed using the WST-1 bioassay. The antioxidant power was evaluated by the DPPH assay. The phytochemical characterization of C. colocynthis seed extract showed the richness of C. colocynthis seed extract in several families of bioactive compounds. Regarding the cytotoxic activity, the IC50 (the half-maximal inhibitory concentration) of C. colocynthis seed extract in inhibiting MDA-MB-231 and HT-29 were 170.34 and 132.31 µg/mL, respectively. The cancerous cell lines MDA-MB-231 seem to be more sensitive to C. colocynthis seed extract than HT-29 cell lines. C. colocynthis seed extract exhibited a strong antioxidant power with an IC50 value of 1.37 mg/mL. Insight into the results obtained, C. colocynthis seed extract may be used as a promising weapon to fight against cancer and free radicals’ damage