CYTOTOXIC ACTIVITY OF ALKALOID EXTRACTS OF DIFFERENT PLANTS AGAINST BREAST CANCER CELL LINE

Abstract

Objectives: To study in vitro cytotoxic activity of total alkaloid extracts of Pinus sabiniana L., Phoenix dactylifera L. and Ferocactus sp. L. against breast cancer cell line Michigan Cancer Foundation-7 (MCF-7) and non-tumorigenic fetal hepatic cell line (WRL-68). Methods: Plant powder of each P. sabiniana L. leaves, P. dactylifera L. pollen grains, and Ferocactus sp. L. The leaves were extracted separately with 80% methanol, chloroform at pH 2 and pH 10 and the chloroform portion was dried to obtain the total alkaloid extracts. The total alkaloids were detected qualitatively by Mayer’s, Dragendorff’s and Hager’s reagents and estimated quantitatively by bromocresol green spectrophotometry depending on the atropine calibration curve. The cytotoxic activity was evaluated by 3-[4, 5-dimethylthiazoyl]-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay. Results: The extract of P. sabiniana L. had highest total alkaloid content (164.62±2.8 mg/100 g dry weight of plant) than the other plants (P. dactylifera l., Ferocactus sp. L.), the total alkaloids of Ferocactus sp. L. and P. dactylifera L., reduced the cell viability of both cell lines, the highest reduction occurred in the concentration 400 μg/ml was 46±2.20% (MCF-7) and 56.2±2.2% (WRL-68) for Ferocactus sp. L., followed by 56.2±2.2% (MCF-7) and 57.5±3.2% (WRL-68) for P. dactylifera L. The alkaloids of P. sabiniana was very lower effects on both cell lines MCF-7, and WRL-68 was 89.3±3.44% and 90.16±2.7%, respectively, at the same concentration. Conclusion: Plant alkaloids had variable effects against cancer and normal cell lines depending on the type of alkaloid compounds and their concentration in the extract.