Effects of Crude Methanol Soluble Extract of Momordica charantia on Cancer Cell Lines and L6 Cell Line

Abstract

A multitude of plants have been used extensively for the treatment of cancers throughout the world.  In many parts of the world, especially in poor countries, this may be the only form of cancer therapy. Much research has been focused on the scientific evaluation of traditional anti-cancer drugs from the tropical plant; Momordica charantia (MC) is one of them and it has been used frequently as an anti-cancer agent. The green leaves, fruits, seeds and stems of M. charantia composed of many different proteins and steroids that are chemically active. These proteins are α and β momorcharins which possess anti-cancer and anti-HIV properties similar to crude water and methanol soluble extracts of M. charantia. This study investigated the anti cancer effect of crude methanol soluble extract of M. charantia based on dose-dependent and time-dependent on the viability of 1321N1, Gos-3, U87-MG, Sk Mel, Corl -23, Weri Rb-1 and L6 cell lines employing different concentrations of each extract or drug. The results have shown that the crude methanol soluble of M. charantia (200 µg - 800 µg) had little effect on the viability of the different cancer cell lines.