Cytotoxic activity, selectivity, and clonogenicity of fruits and resins of Saudi medicinal plants against human liver adenocarcinoma

Ali Hendi Alghamdi; Aimun A E Ahmed; Mahadi Bashir; Haidar Abdalgadir; Asaad Khalid; Mohamed E Abdallah; Riyad Almaimani; Bassem Refaat; Ashraf N Abdalla

doi:10.33393/dti.2024.3169

Cytotoxic activity, selectivity, and clonogenicity of fruits and resins of Saudi medicinal plants against human liver adenocarcinoma

Drug Target Insights. 2024 Oct 22:18:84-93. doi: 10.33393/dti.2024.3169. eCollection 2024 Jan-Dec.

Authors

Ali Hendi Alghamdi¹, Aimun A E Ahmed^{2

3}, Mahadi Bashir¹, Haidar Abdalgadir⁴, Asaad Khalid⁵, Mohamed E Abdallah⁶, Riyad Almaimani⁶, Bassem Refaat⁷, Ashraf N Abdalla^{8

9}

Affiliations

¹ Surgery Department, Faculty of Medicine, Al-Baha University, Al Baha - Saudi Arabia.
² Pharmacology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Al-Baha University, Al Baha - Saudi Arabia.
³ Pharmacology Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Omdurman Islamic University, Khartoum - Sudan.
⁴ Biology Department, Faculty of Science, Al-Baha University, Al Baha - Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Substance Abuse and Toxicology Research Center, Jazan University, Jazan - Saudi Arabia.
⁶ Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah - Saudi Arabia.
⁷ Laboratory Medicine Department, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah - Saudi Arabia.
⁸ Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Pharmacy, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah - Saudi Arabia.
⁹ Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Research Institute, National Center for Research, Khartoum - Sudan.

Abstract

Background: Edible fruits and resins provide various benefits to mankind including potential medicinal applications. This study aimed to determine the cytotoxicity, selectivity, and clonogenicity of fruits and exudates of certain Saudi medicinal plants (Anethum graveolens (BEP-09), Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Miller (BEP-10), Boswellia serrata Roxb. ex Colebr. (BEP-11), and Commiphora myrrha (BEP-12)) against human liver adenocarcinoma (HepG2).

Methods: Initial cytotoxicity and cell line selectivity against different cell lines were screened using MTT assay. The most promising extract was subjected to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis to determine the main phytoconstituents. Clonogenicity was checked for the most active extract.

Results: The selected plants' fruits and resins possess a significant cytotoxic activity estimated as IC₅₀. The fruit of BEP-10 was found to be the most active extract against liver cancer cells (IC₅₀ = 2.82) comparable to both doxorubicin (IC₅₀ = 1.40) and camptothecin (IC₅₀ = 1.11). It showed a selectivity index of 4.47 compared to the normal human foetal lung fibroblast (MRC5) cells. BEP-10 showed a dose-dependent clonogenic effect against HepG2 cells comparable to the effect of doxorubicin. The GC-MS chromatogram of BEP-10 extract revealed the presence of eight small polar molecules, representing 73% of the total identified compounds and the rest three molecules (27%) were non-polar constituents. The furan derivatives represent the chief components in BEP-10 (16.3%), while the aldehyde 5-(hydroxymethyl)-2-furancarboxaldehyde was found to be the main molecule (13.2%).

Conclusion: The fruits of BEP-10 have a potential cytotoxic effect particularly against HepG2. The identified phytoconstituents in the tested plant extract might contribute to the investigated cytotoxic activity.

Keywords: Clonogenicity; Cytotoxicity; MTT assay; Opuntia ficus-indica; Saudi plants; Selectivity index.

Grants and funding

Funding: The author(s) disclosed receiving the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This work was supported by the Department of Research and Innovation of the Ministry of Education of Saudi Arabia (grant number: MOE-BU-4-2020). Sponsors did not play a role in the design of the study, the collection and analysis of data, or the preparation of the manuscript.