Ethyl acetate crude fraction of Macaranga subpeltata and silymarin increase Vero cell survival and HepG2 cell death due to oxidative stress

Abstract

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) trigger oxidative stress (OS) that determines the onset of aging and various disease progressions including cancer. Macaranga subpeltata is among medicinal plants, which shows an important source of antioxidant (AO) compounds and has the potency to overcome those problems. Silymarin is a plant-derived flavonolignan with tremendous health benefits as an AO and organ protector. Hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ), an active prooxidant molecule, enables the generation of OS in mammalian cells. This study aims to evaluate the effect of ethyl acetate crude fraction of M. subpeltata (EACFM) and silymarin in H 2 O 2 -induced OS of Vero and HepG2 cell lines. The 3-(4,5-dimethyl azole-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay was used to evaluate cell viability, while examination of ROS generation and cell death were done using the flow cytometric method. The study revealed that H 2 O 2 induced ROS generation in a dose-dependent manner both on Vero and HepG2 cell lines, and the HepG2 hepatocarcinoma cells were more resistant to H 2 O 2 toxicity than the Vero cells. Silymarin suppressed ROS formation on both H 2 O 2 -treated cell lines with different effects; it alleviated H 2 O 2 intoxication on Vero cells but enhanced the toxicity of H 2 O 2 on HepG2. The EACFM reduced H 2 O 2 intoxications of Vero cells and modulated ROS-mediated cell death of HepG2 cells through either apoptosis or necrosis. The EACFM showed a higher capacity to reduce OS due to H 2 O 2 treatment on Vero cells; however, silymarin showed better anticancer properties.