Evaluation of antitumor activities of different epigeic earthworms

Abstract

Earthworms have a long association with the medicinal property as the biomolecules/compounds produced by the earthworms are of pharmacological importance with high potential in the eradication of various diseases with very low cost. Researchers have proved that earthworms are immune to malignant diseases such as different kinds of cancers. Hence, the present study was undertaken to evaluate the antitumor activities of different epigeic earthworms, such as Eudrilus eugeniae, Eisenia fetida, and Perionyx excavatus. The cytotoxicity assay was tested through 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-Yl)-2,5-Diphenyltetrazolium Bromide (MTT) assay on Michigan Cancer Foundation-7 (MCF-7) cells by exposing them at various concentrations (200, 400, 600, 800, and 1,000 µg/ml) of different epigeic earthworm powders and standard antitumor chemotherapy drug Cisplatin (15 µg/ml). The percent growth inhibition/percent viability of MCF-7 cells varies with different concentrations of earthworm powder. The IC50 value was more prominent with E. fetida (113.97 µg/ml), followed by E. eugeniae (825.67 µg/ ml) and P. excavatus (1,617.31 µg/ml). Based on the above results, it can be concluded that the tissues of the earthworm, E. fetida, seems to be a very good anticancer agent against MCF-7 cells as compared to other two earthworm species. Therefore, such studies could be useful in the future for the development of novel therapeutic agents against different types of cancers, further molecular level experimental studies are required to ascertain the pathways and genes responsible for the anticancer effect, and thereby, we can exploit the beneficial aspects of various earthworm species in drug delivery research and also in pharmaceutical applications.