Page 108 - journal-6-2-S-Full

Journal of Thai Traditional & Alternative Medicine Vol. 6 No. 2 May-August (Supplement) 2008 Ò˜

PO-5

Anti-proliferation activities of Thai Lanna medicinal plant recipes in

cancer cell lines by SRB assay

1,2 1 1,2
Jiradej Manosroi , Suda Saowakhon , Aranya Manosroi
1
Natural Product Research and Development Center (NPRDC), Institute for Science and Technology Research and Development,
Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand
2
Faculty of Pharmacy, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand
Rationale: There is a long historical use of medicinal plants in the northern part of Thailand. Some plants have
been proven to be useful as pharmaceuticals. Several herbal formulations prepared from a mixture of plants are
often used by traditional medicine practitioners for the treatment of cancer. Cancer is still an intractable disease to
be overcome in the modern times though many scientists have developed anticancer agents, radiotherapy and
surgery. Recently, medicinal herbs are the spotlight as complementary and alternative medicines for cancer
treatment (Huh et al., 2003). Sulforhodamine B (SRB) assay, a colorimetric end-point assay which quantifies viable
cells by staining their cellular protein contents, has been widely used for the determination of anti-cancer activity
by the evaluation of cytotoxicity and cell proliferation in microplate assay.
Objective: This study has aimed to screen the cytotoxicity activities of selected Thai Lanna medicinal plant
recipes from the Thai Lanna Medicinal Plant Recipe Database (T/LMPRD) on human mouth epidermal carcinoma
(KB) and murine leukemia (P388) cell lines using SRB assay.

Methodology: Twelve Thai Lanna medicinal plant recipes were selected from the Thai/Lanna Medicinal Plant
Recipe Database (T/LMPRD) by frequency and scientific evidence of the recipes. Each recipe was extracted by
boiling in distilled water. KB cell lines were grown in DMEM medium while P388 were grown in RPMI medium,
supplemented with 10% fetal calf serum, and 50 IU/ml penicillin and 50 µg/ml streptomycin. The cells were
o
incubated at 37 C in a 5% CO incubator. The cells were then harvested and plated in 96 well plates at 10,000
2
o -6 3
cells/well, and incubated for 24 h at 37 C. The cells were then treated with various concentrations (4x10 -4x10
4
-5
µg/ml) of the extracts. The plates were incubated for further 24 h. Doxorubicin (1x10 -1x10 (g/ml) was used as
the positive control. After exposure to the test samples for 24 h, the SRB cytotoxicity assay was performed as
previously described (Mitry et al., 2000).
Results: The 50% growth inhibition (GI ) values of recipes No.1 and 2 on KB cell lines were 0.00262 and
50
0.00266 µg/ml, respectively. The GI value of the recipe No.3 on P cell lines was 0.325 µg/ml. In comparison
388
50
with doxorubicin (having GI of 0.0186 and 37.5 µg/ml on KB and P , respectively), recipes No. 1 and 2
50 388
showed 7.1 and 7 times higher cytotoxic activity on KB cell lines than doxorubicin, respectively. Recipe No.3
showed 115.4 times higher cytotoxic activity on P cell lines than doxorubicin.
388
Conclusion: This study has demonstrated that recipes No. 1 (containing Baccaerea sapida, Ficus racemes, F.
hispida, Thunbergia laurifolia, Oroxylum indicum, Senna alata and Psophocarpus tetragonolobus) and 2 (containing
Terminalia chebula, Dillenia indica, Ardisia colorrota, P. tetragonolobus, F. racemes, Eleusine indica, Sida rhombifolia,
C. alata, Imperata cylindrica, Vetiveria zizanioides, Musa ABB, Saccharum chinensis, Tamarindus indica, Pithecellobium
dulce) gave the higher anti-proliferation activity on KB cell lines with the GI values of 0.00262 and 0.00266 µg/
50
ml, respectively. In P cell lines, recipe No. 3 (containing S. alata and P. tetragonolobus) gave the highest anti-
388
proliferative activity with the GI value of 0.325 µg/ml. The recipes Nos. 1 and 2 showed 7.1 and 7 times, while
50
recipe No. 3 gave 115.4 times higher cytotoxic activity on KB and P cell lines than doxorubicin, respectively.
388
The result from this study can be certainly applied for the further development of these Thai Lanna medicinal plant
recipes for anti-cancer treatment.