In vitro cytotoxic activity of Tarantula cubensis alcoholic extract on different human cell lines

Abstract

Spider venoms are known to have great potential for their antimicrobial, antifungal, and antitumor activities due to their rich peptide content. Tarantula cubensis alcoholic extract Theranekron ® is a homeopathic remedy and it is frequently used in veterinary treatments. Specifically, the anti-inflammatory, antitumor and wound healing effects of Theranekron ® provide a wide range of use in animal treatments. More importantly, it can reduce the growth rate of canine mammary tumors. This effect shows that Theranekron ® can be a potential candidate for cancer treatment. In this study, the cytotoxic effect of Theranekron ® was evaluated in four different human cancer cell lines and one non-cancerous human cell line. It was aimed to provide a foundation for further studies by conducting an in vitro screening for the cytotoxic effect of Theranekron ® . Results showed that Theranekron ® has a high cytotoxic effect on human breast cancer cell lines. On the other hand, the rate of cytotoxicity was found to be relatively lower on human small cell lung cancer, glioblastoma and human prostate cancer cell lines as compared to breast cancer cells. These results indicated that T. cubensis alcoholic extract might be utilized as an anticancer bio-therapeutic and should be further examined for its potential.

Cytotoxic Effects of Theranekron D6 on HepG2 Heaptocellular Carcinoma Cells

“…In this study, IC50 values based on 72 hours of application time for HEK-293, MC-7, H69AR, and PC3 cell lines were calculated as 88.3 µg/mL, 94.7 µg/mL, 295 µg/mL, and 118.9 µg/mL. Remarkably, in this study, the IC50 value for the healthy HEK-293 cell line is lower than the IC50 value determined for cancer cell lines, which shows that, TD6 has a more cytotoxic effect on the healthy cell line than on cancerous cell lines [29]. In another study, prostate (PC3), breast (MDA-MB-231), lung (H69), and ovarian (OVCAR-3) cancer cell lines and a non-cancerous epithelial (MCF-10A) cell line were treated with another Tarantula cubensis product called "Tarantula-Logoplex" (Richter Pharma) with a dose range of 10-500 µg/mL for 24, 48, and 72 hours, and the IC50 values were investigated.…”