Apoptosis induction of crude water soluble Momordica charantia (chinese and indian bitter gourd) in human lung cancer cell and zebrafish embryo

Abstract

A therapy which can target apoptosis will be effective for cancer treatment. This preliminary study attempted in vitro and in vivo to target apoptosis capability of Momordica charantia extracts. Here, we describe that the crude hot and cold extraction of two varieties (Chinese and Indian) of M.charantia, induced apoptosis in human lung cancer cell line A549. This was obtained from the cell viability assay where crude extracts were incubated for 24 hours and tested with 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5 Diphenyltetrazolium Bromide (MTT) assay. The inhibitory concentration, IC50 was obtained from the cell viability graph and further used in the upstream assays. The apoptotic morphology was presented by the crude extract-treated cells with a comparison to a positive control cisplatin. The percentage of apoptosis was obtained from a flow cytometric analysis using Hoechst 33342. Induction of apoptosis in vivo was tested using the extracts on dechorionated zebrafish embryo for 24 hours and monitored up to 72-hour post fertilization. Induction of apoptosis in A549 by crude water extracts revealed a decrease in cell viability giving a low IC50. The IC50 of cisplatin was 17.3 µg/ml, Chinese Hot Aqueous was 32.5 µg/ml, Chinese Cold Aqueous was 28.1 µg/ml, Indian Hot Aqueous was 36.9 µg/ml and Indian Cold Aqueous was 26.7 µg/ml significant to the control.The initiation of apoptosis by the crude water extracts was also evidence in vivo in zebrafish embryos with results demonstrating significant changes morphologically. There is a potential for the Indian Cold Aqueous to act as a chemo preventive agent as it has the overall best IC50, percentage of apoptotic cells and changes in the morphology of cell and the zebrafish embryo.