Antiproliferative effects of extracts from Iranian Artemisia species on cancer cell lines

Different species of Artemisia (Asteraceae) have shown to exhibit antitumor activity. The aim of this study was to identify the antiproliferative effect of some Artemisia species from Iran on cultured human cancer cells.

Methanol, ethyl acetate, dichloromethane and n-hexane extracts from aerial parts of seven species of Artemisia were prepared and their antiproliferative effects on four cancer (AGS, HeLa, HT-29 and MCF-7) and normal cell line (L929) were determined. Different concentrations of extracts were added to cultured cells and incubated for 72 h. 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay was employed to assess the cell viability.

Different extracts exert various growth inhibitory effects. In case of AGS cells, dichloromethane and methanol extracts of A. ciniformis Krasch. & Popov ex Poljak. (IC(50) values: 35 and 60 µg/ml, respectively) showed the highest growth inhibitory effects. HeLa cells were more sensitive to both A. diffusa Krasch. ex Poljak. dichloromethane (IC(50) value: 71 µg/ml) and A. ciniformis ethylacetate (IC(50) value: 73 µg/ml) extracts. Dichloromethane extracts of A. diffusa, A. santolina Schrenk and A. ciniformis (IC(50) values: 42, 91 and 94 µg/ml, respectively) exhibited more inhibition on HT-29 cells in comparison to other extracts. MCF-7 cells were best inhibited by A. ciniformis dichloromethane (IC(50) value: 29 µg/ml) and A. vulgaris L. ethyl acetate (IC(50) value: 57 µg/ml) extracts.

This study shows the antiproliferative effects of Artemisia extracts on malignant cell lines. Artemisia could be also considered as a promising chemotherapeutic agent in cancer treatment.