Abstract
Objective: Five methanol plant extracts namely, Euphorbia hierosolymitana, Dracaena marginata, Cordyline terminalis, and Sapium sebifera were screened in vitro for their cytotoxic effect on human tumor cell lines; namely, PC-3, HepG-2, HCT-116, and MCF-7 (prostate, liver, colon, and breast cancer) and human normal cell lines, namely, BJ-1.
 Methods: E. hierosolymitana (extract A) selectively inhibited HCT-116 cell proliferation with IC50 of 4.22 μg/ml, both Dracaena marginata (extract B) (bark, leaves, and branches) showed moderate cytotoxicity on MCF-7 with IC50 of 22.4 and 48.2 μg/ml, respectively. The remaining two extracts showed minimal to insignificant percentage inhibition on all cell lines.
 Results: E. hierosolymitana extract was selected for further studying, where the effect of the extract on the HCT116 cells showed a downregulation of her2 and Bcl-2 gene and overexpression of the Bax gene. Flow cytometry analysis was also performed to understand the effect of E. hierosolymitana on the apoptosis induction and the cell cycle. The results showed the induction of early and late apoptosis by 5.81 and 10.01%, respectively.
 Conclusion: Our results infer that E. hierosolymitana has a promising chance in fighting colorectal cancer due to its high cytotoxic effects on HCT116 cancer cells while having minimal effects on the BJ-1 normal cell lines.
Highlights
The natural environment has been a source of medicinal agents for thousands of years and is still being used for treating various types of diseases
Cytotoxicity assay Data were pooled from the MTT assays where five methanol plant extracts were tested on five human cancer cell lines
All tested extracts did not have any cytotoxic effects on the HepG-2 or PC-3 cell line
Summary
The natural environment has been a source of medicinal agents for thousands of years and is still being used for treating various types of diseases. Euphorbia hierosolymitana (extract A) is a member of the Euphorbiaceae (spurge) family. Euphorbiaceae family members have been used in alternative medicine for skin disorders, diarrhea, dysentery, and venereal diseases [1]. Dracaena marginata is a species of the Dracaena genus which is commonly used as ornamental and medicinal plants. Plants like D. marginata alongside with other Dracaena species are effective in decreasing the concentration of the volatile organic compound in the air [2]. Cordyline fruticosa (extract C) is commonly known as Hawaiian Ti plant. It is an arborescent (tree-like structure) monocotyledon which is classified into the Agavaceae family. The leaves were reported to contain tyramine, it is predicted to cause an increase in the systolic blood pressure if ingested in high amounts [3]
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