Anti-cancer activities of crude extracts from medicinal plants moringa oleifera lam and rauwolfia caffra against selected cancer cell lines
Date
2016Author
Milugo, T.
Omosa, L.K.
Owuor, B.
Oyugi, J.
Ochanda, J.
Wamunyokoli, F.
Type
ArticleLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
The current study was undertaken to validate the traditional use and determine the safety profiles of
Moringa oleifera and Rauwolfia caffra used in Kenya to manage tumors and related ailments. This was
achieved by determining the anti-proliferative activities of the active antioxidant extracts (50% methanol in
dichloromethane) of Moringa oleifera leaves (MeOH) and Rauwolfia caffra stem bark using crystal violet assay.
Human liver (hepatocellular carcinoma, Hep-G2) and muscular (rhabdomyosarcoma, RD) were used as model
cell lines and cytotoxicity was assessed using Vero cell lines. The results of this work showed that the
methanolic extract of the leaves of Moringa oleifera displayed significant anti-proliferative activity (p < 0.05)
against Hep-G2 and RD cell lines with limited activity on normal Vero cells. Comparatively, RD cell lines were
more sensitive than Hep-G2. The extract of the stem bark of Rauwolfia caffra did not show significant activity
against proliferation of RD and Hep-G2 cells, however, it exhibited high activity against the proliferation of
Vero cells. From this studies Moringa oleifera was found to be less toxic and to possess anticancer activities,
while R. caffra displayed modest anticancer activities and high toxicity levels against normal Vero cells. The
efficacy and safety profiles as observed in this study provides a validated evidence of anticancer activity of the
two plants that should be investigated further for rational therapeutic designs.
Citation
Milugo T, Masila VM, Owuor B, Bulimo W, Julius Oyugi, Ochanda J, Wamunyokoli F, Omosa LK. "Anti-cancer activities of crude extracts from medicinal plants Moringa oleifera Lam and Rauwolfia caffra against selected cancer cell lines." IOSR Journal of Pharmacy and Biological Sciences. 2016;11(3):59-64.Publisher
University of Nairobi
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United StatesUsage Rights
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/Collections
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