Anti-proliferative effect of Ficus pumila Linn. on human leukemic cell lines

Authors

  • Christopher Larbie Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana
  • Regina Appiah-Opong Department of Clinical Pathology, Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, College of Health Sciences, University of Ghana, Legon, Accra, Ghana
  • Felix Acheampong Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana
  • Isaac Tuffour Department of Clinical Pathology, Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, College of Health Sciences, University of Ghana, Legon, Accra, Ghana
  • Takuhiro Uto Department of Pharmacognosy, Nagasaki International University, 2825-7 Huis Ten Bosch-Cho, Sasebo-shi Nagasaki, 859-3298, Tokyo, Japan
  • Gideon Agyare Yeboah Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana
  • Offeibea Abboah-Offei Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana
  • Doris N. K. Tagoe Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana
  • Samuel E. Inkabi Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana

Keywords:

Anti-proliferative, Antioxidant, Ficus pumila, Phenolics, Phytochemical

Abstract

Background: Cancer is one of the many diseases of global concern due to its high mortality rate with drug resistance becoming a major challenge to chemotherapy and this have propelled many cancer patients to seek alternative and complementary methods of treatment. The objective for this study was, therefore, to determine the antiproliferative activity as well as phytochemical, total phenolic content (TPC), and antioxidant activity of the stem and leaf extracts (FPS and FPL) of Ficus pumila (L.) using standard methods.

Methods: The 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay was used to evaluate anti-proliferative effect and spectrophotometric-based assays for antioxidant and TPC. Phytochemical constituents were accessed by standard methods.

Results: The hydroethanolic extracts of the leaves and stems were rich in tannins, general glycosides, saponins, terpenoids, alkaloids, flavonoids (leaves only), and sterols (stem only). Strong total antioxidant activities were observed with FPL and FPS with EC50 values of 0.07 mg/ml and 0.089 mg/ml, respectively. All the crude extracts showed anti-proliferative effect towards the three human leukemic cell lines used (Jurkat, CEM, and HL-60). However, FPL gave the strongest inhibition concentration at 50% values of 130.97 µg/ml (Jurkat) and 56.31 µg/ml (HL-60).

Conclusion: These findings suggest that crude extracts of FPS and FPL have anti-proliferative effect on the leukemia cells. The antioxidant properties of the plant including phenolics may be partly responsible for the anti-proliferative activity. Further studies are required to isolate chemical components of the plant and establish their anti-proliferative activities and mechanism of action.

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Published

2017-01-21

How to Cite

Larbie, C., Appiah-Opong, R., Acheampong, F., Tuffour, I., Uto, T., Yeboah, G. A., Abboah-Offei, O., Tagoe, D. N. K., & Inkabi, S. E. (2017). Anti-proliferative effect of Ficus pumila Linn. on human leukemic cell lines. International Journal of Basic & Clinical Pharmacology, 4(2), 330–336. Retrieved from https://www.ijbcp.com/index.php/ijbcp/article/view/922

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Original Research Articles