Abstract
Ethnomedicinal knowledge of plant-derived bioactives could help us in discovering new therapeutic compounds of great potential. Certainly, dandelion has been used in traditional ethno-medicinal systems (i.e., Chinese, Arabian, Indian, and Native American) to treat different types of cancer. Though, dandelion is highly vigorous, but the potential mode of action is still unclear. In the current study, the antiproliferative activity of methanolic extracts of dandelion root (MEDr) on cell viability of HepG2, MCF7, HCT116, and normal Hs27 was investigated. It was observed that MEDr (500 μg/mL) drastically decreased the growth of HepG2 cell line, while the effect on MCF7 and HCT116 cell lines was less pronounced and no effect has been observed in Hs27 cell lines. The MEDr also enhanced the phosphorylation level of AMPK of HepG2 cells, which considered crucial in cancer treatment and other metabolic diseases. The AMPK activation by MEDr noticed in the current study has never been reported previously. The results regarding the number of apoptotic cells (HepG2 cells) were in line with the cell viability test. The current observations clearly demonstrated the potency of MEDr against liver cancer with validation that dandelion could control AMPK and thus cancer in the treated cell lines.
Highlights
Since ancient time till date, plants have been considered as valuable sources of compounds that can cure various complex diseases, including cancer and diabetes, etc
The effect of methanolic extracts of dandelion root (MEDr) on the cell viability of HepG2, MCF7, and HCT116 cells assessed by the MTT test (Figures 1A–C)
MEDr at a concentration of 200 μg/ml reduced the cell viability by 62%, whereas at 500 μg/ml, the cell viability reduced to almost 20% with respect to the control treatment
Summary
Since ancient time till date, plants have been considered as valuable sources of compounds that can cure various complex diseases, including cancer and diabetes, etc. A common weed that is famous for curing various diseases since primeval times might serve to treat cancer without any side effects (Choi and Kim, 2009; Tettey et al, 2014; Van Trinh et al, 2016). Dandelion is famous for its therapeutic property, that is why; it got an important place in traditional medicine system of both native America and China (TCM) to treat heartburn, dyspepsia, anorexia, hepatitis, spleen and liver complaints and cancer (Jeon et al, 2008; Yarnell and Abascal, 2009). The current study was undertaken in this article regarding the effectiveness of MEDr in cancer therapy. An attempt was made to demonstrate the effect of various concentrations of the extracts on different cancer lines
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