In vitro antimitotic and cytotoxic potential of plant extracts: a comparative study of Mucuna pruriens, Asteracantha longifolia and Sphaeranthus indicus

Abstract

Background: Plants have been used in alternative and traditional medicines for the cure of different types of diseases since ancient time. Secondary metabolites from natural sources play a crucial role in the treatment of various ailments. The present study carried out to investigate the phytochemical, antimitotic and cytotoxic activity of methanolic (95%) extracts of Mucuna pruriens seeds, Asteracantha longifolia seeds and Sphaeranthus indicus stems. Result: Phytochemical analysis was performed using qualitative test to confirm the presence of phytochemical such as flavonoids, terpenoids, amino acids, cardiac glycosides, saponins, steroids, tannins, phenols and carbohydrates. The antimitotic activity was screened by using Allium cepa root meristematic cells. Methotrexate (0.1 mg/mL) was used as a standard. The data was analyzed by using software GraphPad Prism, Version 6.0 (GraphPad Software Inc., San Diego, CA) with one-way ANOVA. A statistical difference of p < 0.05 was considered significant in all cases. P value of M. pruriens seeds, A. longifolia seeds and S. indicus stems calculated p = 0.0001 for all plant extracts. Cytotoxic potential of all three plant extracts have been studied on breast cancer cell line MCF7 and lung cancer cell line A549. M. pruriens showed mild cytotoxicity with IC 50 values 36.74 μg/mL on MCF7 and 39.42 μg/mL on A549 cell line. A. longifolia showed better activity on MCF7 with IC 50 of 12.32 μg/mL and the S. indicus showed the least activity on MCF7 with IC 50 of 185.56 μg/mL. The A. longifolia showed better activity on A549 with IC 50 of 16.53 μg/mL. Conclusion: A. longifolia has significant amount of nearly all phytochemicals as compared to other two plant extracts. It is found that all three plant extracts showed antimitotic activity having p value less than 0.05. The cytotoxicity assay revealed that all plant extracts displayed inhibition of MCF7 and A549 cells lines. A. longifolia showed better activity against MCF7 while M. pruriens possessed mild cytotoxic effect against both MCF7 and A549 cell lines.