Breast cancer is a leading cause of deaths among women suffering from cancer in Kenya. The current study was done to determine anticancer activities of medicinal plant extracts against breast cancer cell lines (HCC 1395 and 4T1). Vero cells were used for evaluation of safety of extracts. Thiazoly blue tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay was used in this study. Reference drugs were 5 fluorouracil and cyclophosphamide. Extract concentrations that inhibited growth of cell growth by half (IC 50 ) were estimated using GraphPad prism version 7 and 90 % of extracts showed anticancer activities. Methanol extracts of Uvariodendron anisatum, Fagaropsis angolensis, Combretum tanaense, Hydnora abyssinica and water extract of F. angolensis exhibited remarkable anticancer activities (IC 50 ˂ 30 µg/ml). Methanol extracts of F. angolensis and H. abyssinica demonstrated high selectivity index (SI ≥3). Evaluation for safety, indicated that about 64% of the extracts under this study were non-toxic (CC 50 ˃100 µg/ml). Findings from plants in this study support folklore claims. Phytochemical analysis, bioassay guided fractionation and toxicity studies are underway on extracts of C. tanaense, F. angolensis, H. abyssinica and U. anisatum.
In vitro cytotoxicity test was carried out following a modified rapid calorimetric assay using actively dividing sub-confluent Vero E6 cells. Cell toxicity showed that most of the plant extracts tested were not cytotoxic having a CC 50 (µg/ml) of ≥100 against Vero cell lines except the acetone extracts of P. linearifolia that were moderately toxic with a CC 50 (µg/ml) of 12.5, suggesting former extracts may be safe as antimicrobials.
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