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Phytochemical characterization and anti-cancer properties of extract of Ephedra foeminea (Ephedraceae) aerial parts

Al Saraireh, Y. M ; Sharif University of Technology | 2021

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  1. Type of Document: Article
  2. DOI: 10.4314/tjpr.v20i8.18
  3. Publisher: University of Benin , 2021
  4. Abstract:
  5. Purpose: To evaluate the phytochemical profile of methanol extract of Ephedra foeminea and assess its anti-carcer effect on a large set of normal and cancerous cell lines Methods: Extraction of air-dried powder of aerial parts of E. foeminea was carried out with methanol. The bioactive compounds in the extract were determined using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The anti-cancer effect of the extract was determined by 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay against various types of normal and cancer cell lines. Serial concentrations of plant extract were used, ranging from 7.812 to1000 μg/mL. Doxorubicin (DOX) served as standard drug. The half-maximal concentration (IC50) values of the extract and DOX for each cell line were determined, and the selectivity index (SI) was computed. Results: Phytochemical analysis showed that the extract contained several bioactive compounds, including alkaloids, flavonoids, sterols and fatty acids. The hazardous ephedra alkaloids (ephedrine and pseudoephedrine) were absent in the plant extract. The extract showed significant anti-proliferative activity against cancer cell lines, when compared with the positive control, doxorubicin (p < 0.05). Selective and concentration-dependent cytotoxicity was exhibited in cancer cell lines of breast (MCF-7), lung (A549), colon (Caco-2), liver (HepG-2) and prostate (PC-3). Weak selectivity was produced in other cancer cell lines, i.e., human epithelioma (Hep-2) and cervical carcinoma (Hela). Interestingly, noncancerous cells showed no or weak cytotoxicity. Conclusion: Ephedra foeminea exerts potential selectivity in anti-proliferative effect against some cancer cell lines. Thus, it is a promising drug source for the production of new and selective anti-cancer medicines. © 2021 The authors. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
  6. Keywords:
  7. Alkaloid ; Doxorubicin ; Ephedra foeminea methonolic extract ; Fatty acid ; Flavonoid ; Plant extract ; Sterol ; Unclassified drug ; A-549 cell line ; Antineoplastic activity ; Antiproliferative activity ; Breast cancer ; Caco-2 cell line ; Clinical trial ; Controlled clinical trial ; Controlled study ; Cytotoxicity ; Ephedra ; Ephedra foeminea ; Hep-G2 cell line ; Human ; Human cell ; IC50 ; Mass fragmentography ; MCF-7 cell line ; MTT assay ; PC-3 [Human prostate carcinoma] cell line ; Phytochemistry ; Selectivity index
  8. Source: Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research ; Volume 20, Issue 8 , 2021 , Pages 1675-1681 ; 15965996 (ISSN)
  9. URL: https://www.ajol.info/index.php/tjpr/article/view/221666