In vitro cytotoxic activity of Verbascum alceoides against cervix carcinoma cells

Background: Verbascum species showed various pharmacological activities including anti-inflammatory, antitussive, antiulcerogenic, immunomodulatory, antimicrobial, antimalarial, antioxidant, and anticancer activities. Objectives: The aim of this work was to evaluate cytotoxicity of different fractions of Verbascum alceoides, which belongs to this genus. Materials and Methods: Aerial parts of this plant were collected from Doveiseh area in Kordestan province. The plant was extracted using a four-step extraction method with increasing solvent polarity (i.e., hexane, dichloromethane, chloroform-methanol [9:1], and methanol). The methanol extract was finally separated between water and butanol. Hexane, dichloromethane, chloroform-methanol, butanol, and aqueous partitions were then subjected to cytotoxicity evaluation. Showing the most potent cytotoxic effects, the butanolic partition was further fractionated by medium-performance liquid chromatography and similar eluates were pooled to prepare five final butanolic fractions, named A–E. Results: In vitro cytotoxicity of these fractions against human cervical epithelioid carcinoma (HeLa) and human umbilical vein endothelial cell (HUVEC) was evaluated using 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide assay. Fractions D, E, and A showed a significant and dose-dependent inhibition of cell proliferation (half maximal inhibitory concentration [IC50] of 30, 39.8, and 188.6 µg/mL, respectively). According to the preliminary thin-layer chromatography analysis, these cytotoxic effects may be mainly due to presence of saponin and flavonoid compounds. Conclusion: Future studies will be aimed to isolate and purify active constituents and investigate the effect of them on more different kinds of cancer cells.