Improved anticancer efficacy of plant leaf extracts from homa environment: A preliminary study

Medicinal plants have been the most important component of agro-ecosystems and the natural environment from the very beginning of life. Air, water, and soil have been significantly contaminated, adversely affecting the production and development of plants. Homa therapy, based on traditional Vedic knowledge, purportedly restores balance to nature and eliminates environmental pollutants. However, this approach must be comprehended in light of current scientific findings.

This study examined the comparative efficacy of leaves extracted from plants in Homa and non-Homa (control) environments for their anticancer potential in a cervical cancer cell line.

The leaves of the selected medicinal plants-Murraya koenigii (curry), Ocimum sanctum (tulsi), Aegle marmelos (bael), and Azadirachta indica (neem), were collected from both locations, subsequently dried, and extracted using Soxhlet apparatus. The leaf extracts were examined for cytotoxicity in HeLa cells using the MTT assay. The rate of cell migration was assessed with a wound healing assay. Subsequently, intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation was evaluated using DCFDA. Additionally, gene expression was checked using quantitative polymerase chain reaction.

Our findings indicate that Homa environment plants are significantly (p < 0.05) more effective against cervical cancer, as their IC₅₀ values were comparatively low. The intracellular ROS generation assay demonstrated that Homa environment plants produced more ROS (p < 0.05) in cancer cells than those of non-Homa plants. Moreover, inhibited cell migration was more noticeable (p < 0.05) in Homa plants than non-Homa plants. The genes, SOD1, CAT, and MMP9 were found to be significantly (p < 0.05) downregulated in Homa grown leaf extracts. The study's findings offer promising preliminary trends that the Homa farming environment may improve certain plants' therapeutic qualities, including their capability to fight against cancer.