PHYTOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS AND ANTIPROLIFERATIVE STUDIES OF VARIOUS EXTRACTS OF MOLLUGO CERVIANA

Senthilkumar Manoharan and Manivannan Rangasamy*

In the present work, phytochemical analysis and antiproliferative activities of various extracts of Mollugo cerviana were evaluated by trypan blue dye exclusion and MTT assay models. The extracts produce potent cytotoxic effect against Human cancer cell lines viz. Human cervical cancer (HeLa), lung cancer (A549), breast cancer (MCF7) and liver cancer (HepG2) cell lines. Hexane and water extracts showed moderate activity whereas ethanol, chloroform and ethyl acetate extracts showed potent activity against the tested cell lines. At the same time all the tested extracts showed 3-4 fold high IC50 values for the normal human dermal fibroblast cell line. The results revealed that the selective cytotoxicity of the plant extracts towards the cancer cells. Qualitative phytochemical analysis of these extracts revealed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, glycosides, polyphenolics and saponins. Antiproliferative and cytotoxic activity of the extracts may be due to the rich amount of these phytochemicals. Hence, the plant could be considered as a very good anticancer drug with renowned therapeutic potential.