Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

In vitro cytotoxic activity of Sansevieria trifasciata against various cancer cell lines

Sheryar Afzal¹ , Yuan Seng Wu², Chan Zelynn¹, V Appalaraju²

¹Department of Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, King Faisal University, Al Hufof, Saudi Arabia; ²School of Medical and Life Sciences, Sunway University, 47500 Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.

For correspondence:- Sheryar Afzal Email: safzal@kfu.edu.sa Tel:+966563840308

Accepted: 27 February 2024 Published: 31 March 2024

Citation: Afzal S, Wu YS, Zelynn C, Appalaraju V. In vitro cytotoxic activity of Sansevieria trifasciata against various cancer cell lines. Trop J Pharm Res 2024; 23(3):491-499 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v23i3.2

© 2024 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Purpose: To determine the in vitro anticancer properties of Sansevieria trifasciata extracts.

Methods: The cytotoxic activity of n-hexane, ethyl acetate and methanol leaf extracts at different concentrations was assessed against Vero, pancreatic (AsPC-1), lung (A549), esophageal squamous carcinoma (KYSE 150) and rhabdomyosarcoma (RD) cancer cell lines using MTT assay. The apoptosis-inducing potential of selected S. trifasciata leaf extract was determined using a caspase 3/7 assay kit.

Results: Ethyl acetate extract of S. trifasciata leaf showed significant anticancer activity against RD cells and methanol extract against KYSE cells (p < 0.05). Ethyl acetate and methanol extract possessed higher toxicity towards RD and KYSE 150 cell lines and exhibited relatively lower toxicity towards Vero normal cells. Ethyl acetate extract-treated RD cells and KYSE 150 cancer cells had more typical apoptotic morphologic features when compared to normal cells.

Conclusion: Sansevieria trifasciata possesses anticancer activity and provides new insights for future molecular work on investigating its utilization in cancer treatment.

Keywords: Sansevieria trifasciata, Cancer cell lines, Apoptosis, Chemotherapeutic potential, MTT assay