Bioassay-Guided Discovery of Potential Partial Extracts with Cytotoxic Effects on Liver Cancer Cells from Vietnamese Medicinal Herbs

Hien Nguyen,Nghia Chau,Viet Hoang,Hui-Chun Wang,Nhi Nguyen,Van Tran,Tri Le,Chia-Hung Yen,Anh Nguyen

doi:10.3390/pr9111956

Abstract

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most frequent type of primary liver cancer and is the leading cause of cancer mortality in Vietnam. Our study aims to discover the partial extracts with the potential cytotoxic effects on HCC cells from the different parts of 24 Vietnamese medicinal plants traditionally used in liver cancer treatment. Out of 52 crude methanol extracts, we found that Luvunga scandens leaves, Hyptis suaveolens roots, and Solanum torvum leaves showed the notable cytotoxic effects against HCC cells. After that, we carried out partial extract of the three methanol extracts with ethyl acetate, water, n-hexane, and 90% methanol. The cytotoxic activity on Huh-7 HCC cells, antioxidant capacity, and total flavonoids content (TFC) of each partial extraction were determined. Methanol, ethyl acetate, and 90% methanol extracts showed moderate to strong cytotoxicity activity against Huh-7 HCC cells. Notably, the ethyl acetate and 90% methanol extract from H. suaveolens roots with high TFC values and strong antioxidant capacity could be promising sources of novel therapeutic modalities for HCC treatment. For the leaves of L. scandens and S. torvum, the ethyl acetate extract showed high TFC value and promising anti-HCC activity, therefore recommended further studies.

Highlights

Liver cancer has become a warning problem with 905,677 new cases, 830,180 new deaths [1], and was the leading cause of cancer-related death in Vietnam recorded in 2020 [2]
The hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) prognosis is frequently poor as most HCC patients are detected at the late stage of liver cancer; the mortality rate is exceptionally high and approximately equal to the incidence rate [4,5,6]
As well as surgical resection, chemotherapy is regularly performed in the HCC treatment

Summary

Introduction

Liver cancer has become a warning problem with 905,677 new cases, 830,180 new deaths [1], and was the leading cause of cancer-related death in Vietnam recorded in 2020 [2]. The HCC prognosis is frequently poor as most HCC patients are detected at the late stage of liver cancer; the mortality rate is exceptionally high and approximately equal to the incidence rate [4,5,6]. For early-stage of HCC, surgical resection is suggested because of safety and effectiveness, even in elderly patients [7,8]. An unconventional and long-term method to treat chronic diseases, including HCC, is the use of medicinal herbs because of a certain number of benefits such as high bioactivity, less unexpected effects, and less toxicity to normal cells [10,11]. More than half of the medicines approved by the U.S Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of cancer are natural products or plant-derived natural products [13]. The use of biologically active substances from medicinal herbs in supporting the treatment and prevention of cancer is a trend that deserves attention

Methods

Results

Conclusion