Cytotoxic effects of Curcuma longa leaves on MCF-7 and HepG2 cells

Abstract

Curcuma longa (tumeric) is listed in several therapeutic regimens used in the management of cancer. The present study investigated the potential cytotoxic effects of ethanol extract of Curcuma longa (turmeric) leaves on HepG2 (a human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line), and MCF-7 (a human mammary gland adenocarcinoma cell line) cells. The HepG2 and MCF-7 cells were exposed to different concentrations; 2, 0.2, 0.02, 0.002, 0.0002, 0.00002, 0.000002 µg/ml, of the ethanol extract of C. longa leaves. The Water-Soluble tetrazolium salt (WST-1) assay was used to estimate the cell viability of the cells after which the percentage proliferation was computed. The results of this study indicated that C. longa had cytotoxic effect on the different cell lines, caused a decrease in proliferation and it is more selective to breast cancer cell lines based on the results of WST-1 analysis on the HepG2 and MCF-7 cells. These results suggest that C. longa leaf possesses cytotoxic properties, which can be exploited to develop novel cytotoxic drugs for cancer management.