Biological Property of Fritillaria imperialis L. Extract

Abstract

A preliminary in vitro screening revealed the therapeutic status of extracts of Fritillaria imperialis L. that belongs to the Liliaceae family. Its tendrilled bulbs are consumed fresh or prepared in a powdered form and used as a home remedy for cough and phlegm, high fever, hemorrhage, lack of milk, treatment of abscesses, asthma, rheumatism, and eye disease. Herein, we investigated the antiproliferative, cytotoxic effects and antibacterial activities of Fritillaria imperialis L. extracts on three cancer cell lines (HeLa, HT29, and C6), and a non-cancer cells (Vero). The potential antiproliferative and cytotoxic impact of Fritillaria imperialis L. extracts were investigated in vitro through MTT and LDH measurement techniques, and its antimicrobial effects were studied with MIC and disc-zone test. The extracts of Fritillaria imperialis L. have been shown to exhibit poor antiproliferative effects and antibacterial activities on some cancer cell lines and bacteria, respectively, at even high concentration. These data suggest that Fritillaria imperialis L. extracts are low cytotoxic to cancer cell lines and Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923) and Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922). Our results indicate that clinic consideration of Fritillaria imperialis extracts for the treatment of malignant and bacterial disease needs to be re-evaluated due to its different extraction and isolation methods.