Purpose: To investigate the cytotoxicity and cell cycle analysis of aqueous extract of aerial parts of Centella asiatica on colorectal (HCT116) cancer cell lines.
Approach: Centella asiatica extract was subjected to preliminary phytochemical screening and in the next stage, brine shrimp lethality assay was carried out.MTT assay was also performed on colorectal cancer cell lines to assess the in vitro cytotoxicity activity of the plant extract.Then, cell cycle arrest was also done as a part of investigation using Flow cytometry.
Findings: Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of various vital phytoconstituents like saponins, glycosides, tannins, triterpenoids, flavonoids and polyphenols . Aqueous extract of the aerial parts of Centella asiatica markedly increases the mortality in brine shrimp lethality assay. Further, the extract exhibited cytotoxicity on human colorectal cancer cell lines and cell cycle arrest at G0/G1 phase.
Originality: This research work throws light into the usage of the plant as an alternative to conventional chemotherapy of cancer. In vitro brine shrimp lethality assay, cytotoxicity and cell cycle analysis were all performed for the first time using aqueous extract of Centella asiatica aerial parts.
Conclusion: It can be concluded that the aqueous extract of aerial parts of Centella asiatica showed antioxidant&anticancer activities and even arrested the cell cycle at G0/G1 phase.
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