Screening of North African Medicinal Plant Extracts for Cytotoxic Activity Against Tumor Cell Lines
Lamiae Belayachi, Clara Aceves-Luquero, Nawel Merghoub, Youssef Bakri, Silvia Fernández de Mattos, Saaïd Amzazi, Priam Villalonga
European Journal of Medicinal Plants · pp. 310–332 · Published 27 Apr 2013
10.9734/EJMP/2013/3403Abstract
Aims: The aim of this study was to evaluate the in vitro cytotoxic activity and cellular effects of organic extracts and fractions of four plants; Inula viscosa, Ormenis eiriolepis (Asteraceae), Retama monosperma (Fabaceae) and Marrubium vulgare (Lamiaceae), all of them used in Moroccan traditional medicine. Methodology: The four plants were extracted using organic solvents and screened on a panel of human cancer cell lines including cell types from both solid and haematological cancer origin as well as non-transformed murine fibroblasts. Cell viability assays were performed with sixteen plant extracts. Sensitive cell lines were then exposed to increasing concentrations of the most efficient extracts in order to calculate IC50 values. Microscopy, flow cytometry and caspase activity assays were then performed in LN229, SW620 and PC-3 cell lines upon treatment to investigate the cell morphology, cell cycle distribution and cell death. Results: cell viability assays reveals that at least one extract from each plant was able to exert cytotoxic activity against the majority of cell lines tested, the IC50 values of the active extracts were in most cases ≤ 30 µg/ml. the study of the cellular effects of the most active extracts on LN229, SW620 and PC-3 cell lines shows their ability to promote cell cycle arrest and cell death. The data obtained herein support strongly the use of these plants by traditional healers for the treatment of cancer patients and could have some scientific support indicating the presence of bioactive compounds. Conclusion: The reported biological activity of these four medicinal plants used in traditional Moroccan medicine provides a starting point for forthcoming studies to determine the molecular basis of their activity and to identify the chemical compounds within the most active extracts responsible for their antitumoral effects.
Cited by 29
Rinat Bar-Shalom, Margalit Bergman, Shlomo Grossman · Frontiers in Oncology · 2019
Mohamed El-Amine Benhassine, Rachid Chaibi, Lamine Hamida · Revista Electronica de Veterinaria · 2025
Zhe-jun Zhao, Yuan-long Sun, Xiao-fen Ruan · Phytomedicine · 2023
A. Bouyahya, A. Et-Touys, A. Khouchlaa · Phytothérapie · 2018
A. Bouyahya, A. Et-Touys, A. Khouchlaa · Phytothérapie · 2018
U Amna, H Halimatussakdiah, P Wahyuningsih · IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering · 2020
Shabir A. Dar, Anil Bhushan, Prasoon Gupta · Botanical Leads for Drug Discovery · 2020
Victor Kuete · Medicinal Plant Research in Africa · 2025
Aboufaras Mohamed, Selmaoui Karima, Ouzennou Nadia · European Journal of Integrative Medicine · 2022
Ijeoma Chika Chibuogwu, Luka Mathew, Simon Azubuike Ubah · Journal of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Health · 2017
Showing 20 of 29 known citations — external sources report more than can currently be individually listed.
Related research
- Cell Compatibility of Three-Dimensional Porous Barium-Cross-Linked Alginate Hydrogels — shares topic coverage
- Performance of P2x7 and P2Y Purinergic Receptors as an Inhibiting Factor in the Progression of Pulmonary Neoplastic Cells — shares topic coverage
- Hyperlipidic Diet-induced Obesity Increased Proliferative Signals- AR, ERK1/2- on Mice Prostate, Which can be Restored through Physical Training — shares topic coverage
- The Expression Patterns of APC2 and APC7 in Newly Diagnosed Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia — shares topic coverage
- Snake Venom Disintegrins: Natural Products with Antitumor Effect — shares topic coverage
Article metrics
Real usage data collected on this platform.
0
Page views
0
PDF downloads
0
Outbound clicks
29
Citations
Views by country
Approximate, from request IP at view time — not citizenship or institution. Countries with fewer than 5 views are grouped as "Other".
No views recorded yet.
Traffic sources
Referring site, by host.
No traffic recorded yet.
Views and downloads exclude known bots/crawlers. Citations combines this platform's own DOI-resolved index with each external source's own reported total — see Cited by above for individually listed citing works. Last refreshed 0 seconds ago.