Abstract
BackgroundsColon cancer is the third most deadly and one of the most diagnosed diseases in the world. Although routine screening and early detection during last decades has improved the survival, colon cancer still claims hundreds of thousands lives each year worldwide. Surgery and chemotherapy is mainstay of current treatment, nevertheless toxicity associated with this treatment underscores the urgency of demand of a better therapeutics. Close to 50% of current chemotherapeutic drugs are direct or indirect descendants compounds isolated from medicinal plants, which indicate plants are great potential sources of novel therapeutics. In our literature review we found Eclipta alba to posses many pharmacological activities, including those with anticancer potentials. However, no study on anticancer activity of this kind has been reported.MethodsPhytochemicals were extracted by maceration method from shade dried whole plant of Eclipta alba using methanol as a solvent. The anticancer effect of extract was investigated on various cancer cell lines like human colorectal carcinoma (HCT-116), human prostate cancer (PC-3), Michigan cancer foundation-breast cancer (MCF-7) and renal cell carcinoma (RCC-45). We have also studied the effects on normal human embryonic lung fibroblast cell (WI-38) using MTT (methyl thiazoldiphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay, clonogenic (colony formation) and migration assay. Finally obtained results were analyzed using ANNOVA and Dunnett’s test.ResultsResults obtained from MTT assay revealed that the methanolic extract of Eclipta alba carried significant (p < 0.005) specificity against HCT-116 cells as compared to the other cancer cells. This extract also showed minimal or nontoxicity to WI-38 cells. Migration as well as clonogenic assays also confirmed the anticancer potential of the extract against HCT-116 cells.ConclusionThis is a unique finding of its kind because the specific anticancer effect with minimal toxicity on normal cells has not been reported on Eclipta alba extract. Finally this finding opens up a great possibility to develop a novel antitumor drug candidate against deadly colon cancer in the future.
Highlights
Cancer is the second leading cause of death globally, and is responsible for an estimated 9.6 million deaths in 2018
Migration as well as clonogenic assays confirmed the anticancer potential of the extract against HCT-116 cells. This is a unique finding of its kind because the specific anticancer effect with minimal toxicity on normal cells has not been reported on Eclipta alba extract
HCT-116, and WI-38 cells were cultured in Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle’s Medium (DMEM) and MCF-7, PC-3, and RCC-45 cells were cultured in Roswell Park Memorial Institute (RPMI) medium added with 10% FBS, 1% L-Glutamine, 0.1 mM nonessential amino acid, and 100 U/ml penicillin/streptomycin
Summary
Cancer is the second leading cause of death globally, and is responsible for an estimated 9.6 million deaths in 2018. About 1 in 6 deaths is due to cancer. 70% of deaths from cancer occur in low and middle-income countries. Cancer arises from the transformation of normal cells into tumor cells in a multistage process which include transition from a pre-cancerous lesion to a malignant tumor state. These changes are the result of the interaction between a person’s genetic factors with physical (ultra violet radiation), chemical (tobacco and asbestos) and biological (virus and bacteria) factors
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