Screening of medicinal herbs for cytotoxic activity to leukemia cells

This study aimed to find a new source of anti-leukemia agents from Vietnamese medicinal plants.

The human leukemia cell lines TCCY, KU-812, TCC-S, KOPB-26, and HL60 were used. The crude ethanol extracts of 17 medicinal plants were collected and evaluated for their cytotoxicity against these leukemia cell lines by the trypan blue dye exclusion test. Morphological changes of cells were observed under phase-contrast inverted microscope. Bioactive compounds were evaluated using the method described by Ciulei. 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) method was carried out for evaluating the antioxidant effect.

Among the tested samples, Artemisia vulgaris (A.vulgaris) crude ethanol extract effectively inhibited the viability of leukemia cell in both dose and time-dependent manner. The IC50 value was different for cell lines and ranged from 18.07±1.64 µg/ml to 45.87±3.49 µg/ml. Moreover, the phytoconstituents analysis results showed coumarin, flavonoid, anthocyanin, cardiac glycoside, tannins, reduced sugar compounds were present in the A.vulgaris extract. The total polyphenol and flavonoid contents of the dry extract were calculated as 3.81 mg GAE/g dry weight and 11.64 mg RUE/g dry weight of A.vulgaris. A.vulgaris exhibited antioxidant activity with IC50 is 145.10 ± 6.34 µg/ml.

Among the 17 Vietnamese plants used to treat a variety of cancer-related diseases, A.vulgaris has been able to suppress the growth of leukemia cells.