Effect of Citrullus colocynth fruit extract on pro and anti apoptotic molecules in human melanoma cell line (A375)

Melanoma remains a major cause of death worldwide. Chemotherapy might be used to treat advanced Melanoma which is associated with some side effects. Hence, providing proper treatment or proper employment of lower toxic substances is essential. Citrullus colocynthis, a medicinal plant, seems a potential anticancer herbal medicine against Melanoma via various efficient compounds. Therefore, it is of interest to analyze the effect of Citrullus colocynthis fruit extract on pro and anti apoptotic molecules in the human melanoma cell line (A375). Cell viability test was done using MTT assay. mRNA expression of Bax and Bcl2 was done by real-time PCR. The data was analyzed statistically by one way analysis of variance and Duncan multiple range test with graph prism version 5. p<0.05 was considered significant. Citrullus colocynthis extract caused a marked increase in cell death in a dose-dependent manner. At the end of 48 hours, maximum inhibition (50%) was at 400 and 500µg/ml. The study demonstrated that the effect of Citrullus colocynthis extract has elevated the Bax mRNA expression on human melanoma cell lines. Data shows that Citrullus colocynthis fruit extract has an anticancer effect on the human melanoma cell line (A375) by increasing the expression of Bax and Bcl2 and this could be because of the phytochemicals present in it.