Cytotoxic Effect of Aqueous and Ethanolic Bark Extracts of Alstonia Scholaris against Cervical Cancer Cell Line

Abstract

Alstonia scholaris, a tropical evergreen tree belonging to the family Apocynaceae has traditionally been referred to have anti-cancer activity, but it has not been explored so far. Therefore, the study is aimed to investigate the cytotoxic effect of aqueous and ethanolic bark extracts of Alstonia scholaris against cervical cancer cell line (HeLa Cell line). The bark part of Alstonia scholaris was collected, dried, powdered and made to a coarse powder. Maceration was carried out for the bark of Alstonia Scholaris using two different solvents like ethanol and aqueous solutions. Both the extracts were collected, evaporated to dryness. The extracts were then investigated for the phytochemical screening and cytotoxic effect by MTT Assay using cervical cancer cell line (HeLa cell line). The phytochemical screening of both the extracts showed the presence of various phytoconstituents such as alkaloids, flavonoids, glycosides, gums and mucilage. The IC50 value of Alstonia scholaris of aqueous extract was found to be 13.38µg/ml, whereas the IC50 value of ethanol extract was found to be 14.21µg/ml. According to the results obtained, it has been proved that the aqueous and ethanolic extracts of Alstonia Scholaris bark showed the presence of significant phytoconstituents and also showed significant cytotoxic effect (MTT Assay) against cervical cancer.