In Vitro Study of the Cytotoxic, Cytostatic, and Antigenotoxic Profile of Hemidesmus indicus (L.) R.Br. (Apocynaceae) Crude Drug Extract on T Lymphoblastic Cells.

In traditional Indian medicine, the crude drug root-commonly known as Indian sarsaparilla-is used alone or in poly-herbal preparations for the treatment of a wide range of diseases. The present study focuses on the cancer chemopreventive and therapeutic potential of extracts on an acute lymphoblastic leukemia cell line (CCRF-CEM). With this aim in mind, we subjected roots to two subsequent extractions (hydro-alcoholic extraction and soxhlet extraction). As DNA damage is an important prerequisite for the induction of mutations/cancer by genotoxic carcinogens, cancer chemoprevention may be achieved by preventing genotoxicity. Through an integrated experimental approach, we explored the genoprotective potential of the soxhlet extract against different mutagenic compounds and its cytotoxic, proapoptotic, and cytostatic properties. In our experimental conditions, induced a cytotoxic effect involving the activation of both intrinsic and extrinsic apoptotic pathways and blocked the cell cycle in the S phase. Moreover, the antigenotoxicity results showed that the extract was able to mitigate DNA damage, an essential mechanism for its applicability as a chemopreventive agent, via either the modulation of extracellular and intracellular events involved in DNA damage. These data add to the growing body of evidence that can represent a noteworthy strategy to target early and late stages of cancer.