Cytotoxicity and Cell Cycle Arresting Potential of Ficus racemosa leaves

Author: R. Rachael Evangeline and Betty Daniel

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Abstract

Millions of individuals worldwide are affected by the serious health problem of cancer. The challenges faced during the treatment that includes chemotherapy and radiotherapy, are known to have adverse health effects. Plants have potential anticancer compounds that can be used in cancer treatment. Phytochemicals have been proved to act as cytotoxic agents against cancerous cell types and prevent oxidative damage. This intends to evaluate the anticancer activities of the leaf extracts obtained from Ficus racemosa against the carcinogenic HeLa cells. The study analyses three separate extracts (water, ethanol, and ethyl acetate) that were prepared from the leaves of Ficus racemose. Further, evaluating for phytochemical screening, cytotoxic assay, cell cycle analysis assay, and antioxidant assay. The ethyl acetate extract shows significant cytotoxic effects on HeLa cell lines with an IC50 of 80 g/ml. The cell cycle studies revealed that the ethyl acetate extract conferred a minimum proportion of viable HeLa cells at G0/G1 at a concentration of 160 µg/ml. However, the DPPH antioxidant assay, showed that the ethanol extract had highest significance with an IC50 of 30.19 µg/ml. The GC-MS analysis of the ethyl acetate extract revealed the presence of useful phytochemicals, such like pentadecanoic acid and lupeol. These compounds have already shown to lower oxidative stress and support metabolism. The study carried out contributes new light on the Ficus racemosa leaves' potential medicinal properties, but more thorough study is needed to fully understand the compound's pharmacokinetic characteristics.

Keywords

Cancer, Ficus racemosa, phytochemicals, antioxidant, cytotoxic

Conclusion

The study shows that ethyl acetate extracts of leaves of Ficus racemosa confer cytotoxicity against HeLa cell lines and can be used in therapeutic applications against cancer. However comprehensive studies need to be done to check for its feasibility, usage, and applicability in the drug discovery process.

References

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How to cite this article

R. Rachael Evangeline and Betty Daniel (2023). Cytotoxicity and Cell Cycle Arresting Potential of Ficus racemosa leaves. Biological Forum – An International Journal, 15(2): 78-85.