Cytotoxic activity of leaf and rhizome extracts of Alpinia scabra (Blume) Naves, a wild ginger from peninsular Malaysia
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2010
Abstract
The leaves and rhizomes of Alpinia scabra (Zingiberaceae) were investigated for their cytotoxic effect against selected human cancer cell lines, namely MCF7 (hormone-dependant breast carcinoma cell line), HT29 (colon carcinoma cell line) and SKOV-3 (ovarian cancer cell line) by using an in vitro neutral red cytotoxicity assay. The methanol extracts of both leaves and rhizomes did not show active cytotoxic activity against the selected cancer cell lines. The n-hexane extract of the leaves exhibited remarkable cytotoxic effect against SKOV-3 cells with IC(50) value of 6.3 mu g/ml while dichloromethane extract showed high cytotoxic effect against MCF7 and SKOV-3 with IC(50) values of 6.7 and 5.9 mu g/ml, respectively. The n-hexane and dichloromethane extracts of the rhizomes possessed high cytotoxic effect against SKOV-3 cells with IC(50) values of 8.3 and 7.0 mu g/ml, respectively. This is the first report of the cytotoxic activity of A. scabra.
Keywords
Zingiberaceae, Alpinia scabra, cytotoxic activity, cancer cell lines
Publication Title
African Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology
Volume
4
Issue
10
Publisher
Academic Journals
Publisher Location
P O BOX 5170-00200 NAIROBI, VICTORIA ISLAND, LAGOS 73023, NIGERIA