Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Cytotoxic Activity of Hexane Extracts of Psidium Guajava L (Myrtaceae) and Cassia Alata L (Caesalpineaceae) in Kasumi-1 and OV2008 Cancer Cell Lines

Arkene S Levy , Shanna kay Carley

Department of Basic Medical Sciences, University of the West Indies, Mona Campus Jamaica, West Indies;

For correspondence:- Arkene Levy Email: arkenelevy@yahoo.com Tel:18769272216

Received: 4 August 2011 Accepted: 24 February 2012 Published: 24 April 2012

Citation: Levy AS, Carley Sk. Cytotoxic Activity of Hexane Extracts of Psidium Guajava L (Myrtaceae) and Cassia Alata L (Caesalpineaceae) in Kasumi-1 and OV2008 Cancer Cell Lines. Trop J Pharm Res 2012; 11(2):201-207 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v11i2.5

© 2012 The authors.
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Abstract

Purpose: The cytotoxic effects of hexane extracts of Cassia alata and Psidium guajava leaves were evaluated in OV2008 ovarian and Kasumi-1 leukemia cancer cell lines, respectively.

Methods: The cancer cells were exposed to various concentrations of either C. alata (100 – 180 µg/ml) or P. guajava (100 – 500 µg/ml) leaf extract for 24 h. Following treatment, the cells were evaluated using the 3-(4,5-Di methyl thiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay to determine the cytotoxic effect of the extracts. C. alata extract was also analyzed using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).

Results: C. alata and P. guajava extracts produced significant (p < 0.05) cytotoxicity in OV2008 and Kasumi-1 cell lines, respectively. The IC₅₀ values were 160 µg/ml for C. alata and 200 µg/ml for P guajava. Further, the cytotoxicity exhibited by C. alata might be attributable to the flavonoid, kaempferol, which was identified as a constituent of the extract.

Conclusion: The results suggest that further chemical analysis and mechanistic investigations should be conducted on P. guajava and C. alata extracts to validate their potential uses for anticancer therapy.

Keywords: P. guajava, C. alata, Cytotoxicity, Kasumi-1, Cancer cell, OV2008