In Vitro Anticancer Activity Of Methanolic Extract Of Porteresia Coarctata With Special Emphasis On Human Cancer Cell Lines

Abstract

Porteresia coarctata (Roxb.) The Tateoka is an Indian native wild rice grass, a species of Poaceae, with important medicinal properties. Cancer is an evil being that causes the painful signs of death because the disease has spread globally. There is mounting demand in the production of novel anticancer therapies to treat cancer and relieve cancer-related symptoms. Mangroves are ecologically important because they contain a high number of potential bioactive chemicals and compounds that can be used in the treatment of cancer. The development of new chemical compounds that have been approved to treat cancer over the years is aided by natural sources. This aim was to evaluate the anticancer activity of the methanolic extract of the whole plant of Porteresia coarctata in in vitro human cancer models. The extract of Porteresia coarctata was obtained as the crude methanol extract of the entire plant and examined in terms of phytochemicals (flavonoids, alkaloids, carbohydrates, tannins and other secondary metabolites). Its cytotoxic activity was in vitro tested against three human cancer cell lines, MCF-7 (breast cancer), CACO-2 (colorectal cancer) and HEPG-2 (hepatocellular carcinoma) by the MTT assay . Three independent experiments were performed to evaluate cell viability, evaluating five different concentrations of the extract (5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 µg/ml) in triplicate. The seeded cells were placed in 24 well plates and treated with either DMSO (vehicle control) or extract in concentrations necessary to kill 50 percent of cell viability over the 24 hours. Morphological changes were observed during treatment by phase contrast microscopy. All of the three cell lines revealed dose-dependent cytotoxicity in the extract. At the maximum concentration assayed (100 µg/ml), the concentrations of MCF-7, HEPG-2, and CACO-2 cells needed to inhibit 50 percent of cell viability were 103.47 µg/ml, 110.22 µg/ml, and 110.85 µg/ml, respectively. The anti-cancer effect of the methanolic extract of P. coarctata was confirmed by a high level of cell inhibition in a concentration-dependent manner. The concentration needed to cause an inhibition of 50 percent of cell viability was used to determine the sensitivity of the cells to the extract. Porteresia coarctata methanolic extract was dose-dependent in antitumor activity. It also worked on human breast cancer cell line (MCF-7), human colorectal cancer cell line (CACO-2) and human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line (HEPG-2). This indicates that more research should be done to determine and isolate the active anticancer components of the plant.