Abstract

Consumption of Moringa oleifera and Pseuderanthemum palatiferum for cancer therapy is becoming popular in Thailand. The aim of this study was therefore to investigate the inhibitory effect of the aqueous and ethanol extracts from M. oleifera and P. palatiferum leaves on colon cancer cell proliferation. Prior to the antiproliferative test, primarily safety test of the extracts was conducted by Ames test and the two extracts were clarified for their non-mutagenic activity. Test of antiproliferative effect on 3 types of colon cancer cell lines; HCT15, SW48 and SW480, using the extracts at the concentrations of 100, 250, 500 and 1,000 µg/ml for 24, 48 and 72 h, respectively by 3′-(4, 5 dimethyl-thiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay showed that both extracts were toxic to all types of tested cell lines with increasing concentrations and time. It was also found that M. oleifera extract was more effective than that of P. palatiferum. Moreover, the ethanol extract of M. oleiferatended to give better antiproliferative results on all tested cell lines than the aqueous extract and SW48 was found to be the most sensitive cell line type. It has been shown from our results that these two plants might be new choices of naturally therapeutic products against colon cancer.

Key words: Moringa oleifera Lam., Pseuderanthemum palatiferum (Nees) Radlk, colon cancer cells.