Abstract
The objective of this work was to investigate the cytotoxicological effect of the extracts (hexane, ethyl acetate, and n-butanol) of Cotula cinerea and Salvia verbenaca in addition to the essential oil of Cotula cinerea. These plants are widely used in the Moroccan traditional folk medicine. The cytotoxic effect was explored against two cancer cell lines, Vero and RD, using the colorimetric MTT assay. The obtained results showed that the cytotoxicity differed according to the used extract with an efficient effect of Cotula cinerea extracts compared to Salvia verbenaca. A potent cytotoxicity was thus observed for the Cotula cinerea hexane extract which inhibited the growth of RD cell line at the lowest IC50 value (57.21±3.43 µg/mL). This was followed by the ethyl acetate extract and the essential oil with moderate effects against RD cell line and showed IC50 values of 187.52±6.27 µg/mL and 173.05±4.46 µg/mL, respectively. On the other hand, different results were obtained and Cotula cinerea essential oil was the most cytotoxic with the lowest IC50 value (72.72±2.18 µg/mL) against Vero cell line. In the same conditions, higher concentrations were needed in the case of Salvia verbenaca extracts. The results of this study showed thus that Cotula cinerea essential oil and hexane extract showed significant cytotoxic effects against RD and Vero cell lines, respectively, and could be considered as novel source of antitumor agents. This study is expected to be beneficial for clinical and traditional applications for Cotula cinerea as a remedy against cancer and opens new perspectives for further investigations on other types of cancer cell lines.
Highlights
Cancer is a complex disease caused by several factors such as genetic deregulation, environmental influencing agents, and epigenetic modification factors [1, 2]
In an ongoing program aimed at the exploration of the phytochemical compounds and the biological activities of medicinal plants of Morocco, we were interested, in this work, in the cytotoxic effect of Cotula cinerea and Salvia verbenaca
The three extracts of each plant in addition to the essential oil of Cotula cinerea have been assayed for their cytotoxic activity against RD and Vero cell lines using MTT assay
Summary
Cancer is a complex disease caused by several factors such as genetic deregulation, environmental influencing agents, and epigenetic modification factors [1, 2]. According to the World Health Organization, incidence and mortality due to cancer are widely increasing in the world [3]. Despite the appreciable advancements and progress made in cancer treatment, it continues to constitute a serious global health problem, especially with the appearance of multidrug resistance cells. Despite all the progress made, the cancer treatment remains a challenging task for both the patients and the medical staff. The current widely used cancer treatments such as surgery, radiotherapy, systemic therapy, and chemotherapy are very expensive and cause several side and adverse effects [4]. Exploring alternative sources of new antitumor agents with specific targets is imperative and of great and crucial importance
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