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Background Mussaenda macrophylla is a shrub widely used in Mizo traditional practice for treatment of cancer, fever, cough, ulcer and dysentery. We have previously shown the antioxidant nature of the plant. In this study, we explore the anticancer activity of the aqueous extract of M. macrophylla (MMAE) using Dalton’s lymphoma ascites (DLA) bearing mice as our model. Results MMAE significantly inhibited the tumor growth and increased the survival time of the tumor bearing DLA mice. MMAE significantly increased the glutathione (GSH) levels; and glutathione-s-transferase (GST) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities. Consistently, MMAE decreased lipid peroxidation levels in DLA mice. Reduced RBC and hemoglobin levels were significantly reversed by MMAE treatment. MMAE also lowers the activities of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and creatinine (CRE) levels that were otherwise elevated in the DLA control animals. Induction of DNA damage, up-regulation of pro-apoptotic genes and down-regulation of anti-apoptotic genes in DLA bearing mice following MMAE treatment provide an insight into apoptosis based anticancer activities of M. macrophylla. Conclusion Our findings demonstrate the role of the aqueous extract of M. macrophylla as a potential anticancer agent possibly targeting the apoptotic pathway. Graphical Abstract

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This study evaluates the phytochemical constituents, free radical scavenging activities and antioxidative potential of the tuber extracts of Stemona tuberosa (ST). The preliminary phytochemical screening revealed the presence of alkaloids, cardiac glycosides, saponins, steroids, tannins and terpenoids from various solvent extracts of ST. The methanolic extract of ST showed the highest phenolic (715.20 ± 2.42 mg GAE/g dry extract) and flavonoid (3864.25 ± 7.54 mg quercetin/g dry extract) contents. S. tuberosa extracts were analyzed for their scavenging activities based on 1,1-diphenyl-2picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2, 2'-azino-bis-(3ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS), and superoxide anions (O 2 •-) in a cell free system. Different extracts of ST inhibited the generation of DPPH, ABTS and O 2 in a concentration dependent manner. Among the various extracts of ST, the methanolic extract showed the highest scavenging activities for ABTS and O 2 •with IC 50 of 36.20 ± 0.832 μg/ml and 98.93 ± 3.37 μg/ml respectively. The scavenging activity of methanolic extract for ABTS and O 2 •was significantly higher than the standard ascorbic acid. However, chloroform extract was found to possess the highest scavenging activity for DPPH with IC 50 of 7.36 ± 0.081 μg/ml. The total reducing power of ST extracts was also determined by measuring the transformation of Fe 3+ into Fe 2+ and the methanolic extract was found to exhibit the highest reducing power. The extracts were also analyzed for their anti-haemolytic activity and inhibitory effect on lipid peroxidation in an ex vivo condition using mice erythrocyte and liver, respectively. The antihaemolytic activity of ST extracts also increased with the increase in concentration of the extract. Chloroform extract was found to possess the highest anti-haemolytic activity with 68.81 % inhibition followed by methanolic extract (38.57 %) and aqueous extract (20.81 %). Methanolic extract showed the highest inhibitory activity on lipid peroxidation (80.5 %) followed by chloroform extract (67.8 %) and then aqueous extract (62.63 %). Our study suggests that ST extracts have free radical scavenging and antioxidative potential, probably due to their high phenolic and flavonoid contents.