Alpinia conchigera (small ginger) is a herbaceous plant that is usually used as an alternative treatment in the fi eld of
traditional medicine. This study was conducted to evaluate the cytotoxicity, genotoxicity and mode of cell death of hexane
extract of A. conchigera towards Chang liver cells. The 24 hours MTT assay as carried out to determine the viability
percentage of Chang liver cells after being treated with hexane extract of A. conchigera. The results showed that there
was a signifi cant decrease in cell viability (p < 0.05) and IC50 value of hexane extract of A. conchigera was 8.6 μg/ml
compared to negative control. Based on this IC50 value, AO/PI staining was done to determine the mode of cell death in
liver Chang cells by means of apoptosis or necrosis. The results showed that there was a signifi cant change (p < 0.05)
for mode of Chang liver cells death through apoptosis compared to negative control. In this study, the evaluation of DNA
damage was also done using alkaline comet assay. The IC10 and IC25 values of 4 μg/ml and 6 μg/ml respectively that were
obtained in MTT assay were used. Chang liver cells were treated with A. conchigera hexane extract for 2 hours. There
was a signifi cant change (p < 0.05) for percentage of DNA damage in treated group compared to negative control. As a
conclusion, hexane extract of A. conchigera gave cytotoxic and genotoxic effect towards Chang liver cells as well as to
induce cell death through apoptosis.
Cytotoxins