Cancer Therapeutics and Chemoprevention Group, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, Northeast Ohio Medical University, Rootstown, OH, USA .
Pharm Biol. 2013 May;51(5):668-74. doi: 10.3109/13880209.2012.749922. Epub 2013 Feb 1.
Phytochemicals are produced by desert plants to protect themselves against stressful environments. They have been shown to be useful in preventing and fighting adverse pathophysiological conditions and complex diseases, including cancer. Although many desert plants have been investigated for their antitumor properties, a large number of them still remain to be explored for possible therapeutic applications in oncologic diseases.
To screen the antitumor effects of selected desert plants, namely Achillea fragrantissima (Forssk.) Sch. Bip. (Compositae), Ochradenus baccatus Delile (Resedaceae), Origanum dayi Post (Lamiaceae), Phlomis platystegia Post (Lamiaceae) and Varthemia iphionoides Boiss (Compositae), against an in vitro tumor model utilizing HepG2 human hepatocellular carcinoma cells.
The aqueous extracts of aerial parts of the aforementioned plants were prepared and used for the in vitro experiments. The HepG2 cells were exposed to varying concentrations (0-4 mg/mL) of each plant extract for 24 or 48 h and the cytotoxicity was measured by the MTT assay.
Following 24 h exposure, O. dayi extract exhibited a substantial antiproliferative effect in HepG2 cells (IC50 = 1.0 mg/mL) followed by O. baccatus (IC50 = 1.5 mg/mL). All plant extracts displayed cytotoxicity following 48 h exposure. Nevertheless, a substantial effect was observed with O. dayi (IC50 = 0.35 mg/mL) or O. baccatus (IC50 = 0.83 mg/mL).
The aqueous extracts from aerial parts of O. dayi and O. baccatus possess antitumor effects against human liver cancer cells. These desert plants represent valuable resources for the development of potential anticancer agents.
植物化学物质是沙漠植物产生的，以保护自己免受压力环境的影响。它们已被证明在预防和对抗不利的病理生理状况和复杂疾病方面具有作用，包括癌症。尽管已经研究了许多沙漠植物的抗肿瘤特性，但仍有大量植物有待探索，以寻找在肿瘤疾病中的潜在治疗应用。
筛选选定的沙漠植物的抗肿瘤作用，即香艾（Achillea fragrantissima）（菊科）、黄鹌菜（Ochradenus baccatus）（报春花科）、牛膝草（Origanum dayi）（唇形科）、假龙头花（Phlomis platystegia）（唇形科）和黄花补血草（Varthemia iphionoides）（菊科），对 HepG2 人肝癌细胞的体外肿瘤模型进行抗肿瘤作用。
制备上述植物地上部分的水提取物，并用于体外实验。将 HepG2 细胞暴露于不同浓度（0-4mg/mL）的每种植物提取物 24 或 48 小时，并通过 MTT 测定法测量细胞毒性。
暴露 24 小时后，牛膝草提取物对 HepG2 细胞表现出显著的抗增殖作用（IC50=1.0mg/mL），其次是黄鹌菜提取物（IC50=1.5mg/mL）。所有植物提取物在暴露 48 小时后均显示细胞毒性。然而，牛膝草（IC50=0.35mg/mL）或黄鹌菜（IC50=0.83mg/mL）的效果更为显著。
牛膝草和黄鹌菜地上部分的水提取物对人肝癌细胞具有抗肿瘤作用。这些沙漠植物是开发潜在抗癌药物的宝贵资源。
