Anticancer potential of Siddha formulations against oral cancer cell line in vitro

Abstract

Treatment of cancer without any side-effects is still a challenge in the medical system. This leads to an increasing search for improved anticancer drugs. Plant products have been used as a traditional medicine for thousands of years as it has been drawing a great deal of attention to overcome cancer. The main objective of this study is to evaluate and compare the anticancer effect of MahaVallathy Leghiyam (MVL) and Neeradi Muthu Vallathy Leghiyam (NMVL) against human oral cancer (KB) cells. Different concentrations of aqueous extracts of MVL and NMVL were subjected to cytotoxic study. The antiproliferative effects were determined by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay and IC50 concentration was found at 3.25 mg/mL for MVL and 1.25 mg/mL for NMVL, also apoptotic activities were studied by PI and AO/EB dual staining. The results acquired from the comparative in-vitro studies on KB cell lines revealed that the unique Siddha medicine NMVL has more potent anticancer activity compared to MVL. There was an increase in the cell growth inhibition when treated with NMVL at lower concentration compared to MVL. The current investigation suggested that the phyto constituents of NMVL are responsible for anticancer activity. Thus, the long-term consumption of NMVL could be considered and promoted as an adjuvant therapy for treating various malignancies. *Correspondence to: Kayalvizhi Elumalai, Associate Professor, Department of Physiology, Meenakshi Medical College Hospital and Research Institute, Kanchipuram, Chennai–600 119, Tamil Nadu, India, Tel: 8870365116; E-mail: kayalgkbs@gmail.com Madan Kumar Arumugam, Scientist ‘C’, Cancer Biology Lab, Molecular and Nanomedicine Research Unit, Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology, Tamil Nadu, India, Tel: 91 9942110146; E-mail: madankumarbio@gmail.com