Study on the cytotoxic activities on cancer cells of crude extracts from Combretum quadrangulare Kurz

Abstract

The study aims at grading cytotoxic abilities of Combretum quadrangulare – C. quadrangulare Kurz (collected in An Giang) leaf, root, and seed. Through submerging in hot 70% ethanol solution, leaf, root, seed gels were obtained with extraction productivities of 3.8%, 1.8% and 4.4% perspectively. The gels, through chemical reactions, are proved to contain biologically active substances such as flavonoid, terpenoid, phenolic acid, saponin and tannin. Through MTT, the leaf and root gels showed high cytotoxicity on A549 lung cancer and K62 blood cancer cell streams. Besides, these two gels also showed distinctions in cytotoxic activities on cancer cells and in their influences on the HEK293 kidney embryo cell stream. On the other hand, the seed gel showed weak cytotoxic effects on all three experimented cell streams. This study may serve as foundation for sorting and isolating biologically active substances from C. quadrangulare Kurz, especially those with cytotoxic effects on cancer cells.