In vitro cytotoxic activity of seed oil of fenugreek against various cancer cell lines.

In the present study, investigations were carried out to screen the anticancer activities of fenugreek seed oil against cancer cell lines (HEp-2, MCF-7, WISH cells), and a normal cell line (Vero cells). Cytotoxicity was assessed with MTT and NRU assays, and cellular morphological alterations were studied using phase contrast light microscopy. All cells were exposed toi 10-1000 μg/ml of fenugreek seed oil for 24 h. The results show that fenugreek seed oil significantly reduced the cell viability, and altered the cellular morphology in a dose dependent manner. Among the cell lines, HEp-2 cells showed the highest decrease in cell viability, followed by MCF-7, WISH, and Vero cells by MTT and NRU assays. Cell viability at 1000 μg/ml was recorded as 55% in HEp-2 cells, 67% in MCF-7 cells, 75% in WISH cells, and 86% in Vero cells. The present study provides preliminary screening data for fenugreek seed oil pointing to potent cytotoxicity against cancer cells.