Preliminary Cytotoxic Activity of Sutherlandia frutescens and Carpobrotus edulis on Malignant glioblastoma Cells

Abstract

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common and aggressive intracranial tumour with limited therapeutic options due to their high tumour vasculature and invasiveness. Treatment of GBM includes surgery, followed by chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Despite these treatment options, tumour relapse is still a major issue hence the need for cheap and effective treatment strategies. South Africa is endowed with numerous medicinal plants including Sutherlandia frutescens (S. frutescens) and Carpobrotus edulis (C.edulis), which has been previously reported for their antioxidant and neuroprotective activities. Accordingly, this study was designed to investigate the cytotoxicity of both medicinal plants (S. frutescens and C. edulis) in malignant human GBM cells U251 and U87. The cytotoxic activity was measured using the 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5 diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay while the effect of extracts on colony formation and survival was determined using clonogenic assay. Results show that both S. frutescens and C .edulis induced cytotoxicity in both GBM cells and inhibit colony formation in U251 cells. These findings show that extracts from these plants may be useful in the treatment of GBM and thus requires further investigations into their mechanisms of action as well as isolation of bioactive components responsible for these activities.

Antiproliferative activity of Hoslundia opposita leaf extract and fractions against a human glioblastoma cell line (U251)

“…A clonogenic assay was performed to assess the ability of cancer cells to divide and form colonies after treatment with the IC 50 of the crude product and fractions of H. opposita leaf using previously described methods (27). The cells were seeded in 6 cm dishes according to their density, treated for 48 h at their IC50, trypsinized, resuspended in 2 mL of culture media, counted, and reseeded at 500 cells/dish (35 mm).…”

Ethnopharmacology, Therapeutic Properties and Nutritional Potentials of Carpobrotus edulis: A Comprehensive Review

“…This study showed that the ethanol-water extract significantly decreased cell viability after 24-h incubation compared to the aqueous extract [36], and this anti-proliferative effect could be attributed to the constituents, especially the seven major phenolics: sinapic acid, ferulic acid, luteolin 7-O-glucoside, hyperside, isoquercitin, ellagic acid, and isorhamnetin 3-O-rutinoside. A recent in vitro preliminary cytotoxicity study on the effects of C. edulis on U251 and U87 malignant glioblastoma cell lines showed that the extract elicits an anti-proliferative property and also inhibited colony formation in U251 cells [80].…”