Abstract
Withania somnifera Dunal (WS), commonly known as Ashwagandha in India, belongs to the family Solanaceae. It is extensively used in most of the Indian herbal pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals. In the current study, the in vitro cytotoxic activity of methanolic, ethanolic, and aqueous extracts of WS stems was evaluated using cytometry and the MTT assay against the MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cell line. Methanolic and ethanolic extracts of WS showed potent anticancer activity on the MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cell line, whereas the aqueous extract did not exhibit any significant activity at 100 µg/ml. The percentage viability of the cell lines was determined by using the Trypan blue dye exclusion method. Cell viability was reduced to 21% and 0% at 50 and 100 µg/ml of the methanolic extract, respectively, as compared to 19% and 0% at 50 and 100 µg/ml for the ethanolic extract and 37% at 100 µg/ml in sterile Milli-Q water after 48 hours of treatment. Methanolic and ethanolic extracts of WS were shown to possess IC50 values of 30 and 37 µg/ml, respectively, by the MTT assay and cytometer-based analysis, with the methanolic extract being more active than the other two. On the other hand, methanolic and ethanolic extracts of WS did not exhibit any significant in vitro activity against the normal epithelial cell line Vero at 50 µg/ml. HPLC was carried out for the analysis of its phytochemical profile and demonstrated the presence of the active component Withaferin A in both extracts. The methanolic and ethanolic extracts of Withania should be studied further for the isolation and characterization of the active components to lead optimization studies.
Highlights
Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of death in women [1]
Drug discovery from natural products has led to the isolation of highly active anticancer agents [3]
Different solvents were tried for better dissolution and cytotoxic effects of methanolic and aqueous extracts of Withania against the MDA cell line viz. 10% Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), 50% DMSO, and sterile water
Summary
Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of death in women [1]. Recent reports indicate that breast cancer is emerging as a prevalent cancer amongst women, surpassing cervical cancer in India [2]. Drug discovery from natural products has led to the isolation of highly active anticancer agents [3]. Plant-derived compounds have played an important role in the development of several clinically useful anticancer agents [3]. The studies so far indicate that WS could prove to be a good natural source of a potent and relatively safe radiosensitizer/chemotherapeutic agent in lung cancer cases as it causes an increase in serum immunoglobulin levels and increased CD3+ and CD8+ expression. The current study was an attempt to investigate the in vitro anticancer potential of WS on the human breast cancer cell line. Detailed investigations on the anticancer properties of WS have not been done For this purpose, we chose to study the anticancer activity of WS on human breast cancer cells in detail. Evaluation and Comparison of the In Vitro Cytotoxic Activity of Withania somnifera Methanolic and ... 43 methanolic and ethanolic extracts exhibited potent cytotoxic activity with IC50 values less than 100 μg/ml
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