Evaluation of Anticancer Activity of Medicinal Plants of Himachal Pradesh

The present study was planned with the objective to explore the anticancer potential of plants growing at high altitudes of Himachal Pradesh. Six lyophilized plant extracts were prepared after extraction with 70 % ethanol. All plant extracts were evaluated for percent cytotoxicity against Human Breast Cancer cell line MCF-7 at various concentration levels (20, 50, 100 and 200 µg/mL) and at different exposure time (24, 48, 72 h) by Sulforhodamine B assay. The amount of apoptosis/necrosis and Caspase 3/7 activity in the extract-treated MCF-7 cells was analyzed. Among all the seven extracts, the maximum cytotoxicity was exhibited by 70 % aqua-ethanolic extract of Camellia sinensis (73.71 ± 7.98 %) followed by Bergenia ciliata (63.79 ± 1.33 %). The MCF-7 cells exposed to extracts of C. sinensis and B. ciliata elicited a remarkable increase in average apoptotic cells number i.e. 75.56 ± 0.43 % and 75.49 ± 0.47 %, respectively, in comparison to the control (21.78 ± 0.36). The level of caspase-3/7 activity was found significantly (p < 0.05) higher in C. Sinensis, B. ciliata and T. cordifolia treated group and no significant effect was observed in other groups after 72 h exposure.