In vitro cytotoxicity study on U87 cells using root extracts of plumbago species and GC-MS study

Abstract

Plumbago is a genus of medicinal plants that are used in recent years to induce significant levels of apoptosis in various cancer cells. Purpose: The test substances that are obtained from Plumbago species are studied for their cytotoxicity against U87 cell line in a dose dependent manner and were first subjected to GC-MS study to know the bioactive constituents present in them. Methods: GC-MS was done using ethanol extracts of the roots of both the species. In vitro cytotoxicity of the roots of two species of Plumbago -P. zeylanica (sample I) and P. auriculata (sample II) were tested against U87 cell line. Test samples were taken at concentrations ranging from 400μg/ml to 3.12μg/ml to determine the percentage growth inhibition of both the test substances on U87 cell line. Results: GC-MS analysis on root extracts of P. zeylanica showed the presence of 27 phytochemical constituents and P. auriculata 16 in number. The test substances, Sample I and Sample II exhibited a cytotoxic CTC50 value of 88.07±4.4 and 23.11±0.9 respectively. Conclusion: P. zeylanica is more effective than P. auriculata in terms of its cytotoxicity as well in the number of useful bioactive compounds.