In vitro cytotoxicity of Tinospora cordifolia stem extract in Daltons Lymphoma Ascites cell lines

Abstract

Tinospora cordifolia (TC) is one of the most versatile medicinal plants in Ayurvedic medicine used for the treatment of various ailments. The present study was carried out to investigate the in vitro cytotoxicity of the aqueous extract of TC stems on Dalton’s lymphoma ascites (DLA) cell lines in comparison with a reference drug, cisplatin through 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-phenyl tetrazolium bromide assay (MTT) and Trypan blue dye exclusion methods. Phytochemical analysis of aqueous extract of TC revealed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, steroids, glycosides, phenols, anthraquinones, quinones, saponin, carbohydrates and proteins. The MTT assay revealed that the mean per cent inhibition of cells at the test concentrations of 5, 10, 20, 40, 80, 160, 320, 640 μg/mL ranged from 6.848 ±0.01 to 59.686 ±0.13 for TC extract and from 29.129 ±0.13 to 80.902 ±0.05 for cisplatin, respectively. The IC50values of TC and cisplatin in DLA cells were estimated to be 72.05 μg/mL and 65.44μg/mL respectively. Trypan blue dye exclusion revealed the mean per cent cell viability to be 59.40 ±0.04 and 55.17 ±0.01 for TC stem extract and cisplatin respectively. The mean percent cell viability and inhibition differed between TC extract and cisplatin at IC50 as well as at any given concentration significantly (p<0.01). The tests revealed that the cytotoxic effect of TC extract on DLA cells was moderate and to a comparable extent with cisplatin. The results pointed out that TC induced cytotoxicity in DLA cells indicative of its probable apoptotic potential and therapeutic merit in the treatment of lymphomas.