The crude methanol extracts of Gelsemium elegans leaves were assessed for their cytotoxic activity using the microculture 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay for cellular viability. This study utilized two different types of human cancer cell lines, CaOV-3 (human ovarian cancer cells) and MDA-MB-231 (human estrogen receptor negative breast cancer cells), allowing for comparison of toxicity of G. elegans against these two cancer cells lines. Our results showed that the methanol extract of G. elegans exhibited high cytotoxicity against the human ovarian cancer cell line CaOV-3 with an IC50 value of 5microg/ml after 96 h incubation. However, G. elegans displayed discernibly less toxicity against the MDA-MB-231 cells with an IC50 value 40microg/ml after 96 h incubation and this effect was dose- and time-dependent, up to 72h and 20-30 microg/ml. In conclusion, our results demonstrated that G. elegans is potently cytotoxic against the human ovarian cancer cell line CaOV-3 and to a lesser extend towards the human breast carcinoma cancer MDA-MB-231 cells, suggesting that the extract is selective towards CaOV-3 cells and may have a chemotherapeutic role for ovarian cancer treatment in the future.
Human ; upper case gee ; Ovarian Cancer ; Cell Line ; Malignant neoplasm of breast

Objective To report the chemical composition and bioactivity (including antioxidant and antimicrobial activity) of essential oils from the rhizomes, stems, and leaves of Etlingera sayapensis (E. sayapensis) A.D. Poulsen & Ibrahim for the first time. Methods First, the essential oils were obtained using a Clevenger-type apparatus. Then, the essential oils compositions were identified by chromatography methods including GC-FID and GC–MS. For the next step, DPPH radical scavenging activity (RSA), β-carotene bleaching (BCB), and ferrous ion chelating ability (FIC) were chosen to evaluate the essential oils antioxidant activity. Finally, disc diffusion assay and minimum inhibitory concentration method (MIC) was applied to investigate antimicrobial activity of the rhizomes and leaves oils of E. sayapensis against 18 microorganisms. Results All of the oils contained oxygenated monoterpenes (leaves: 74.18%, stems: 75.60%, and rhizome: 54.61%), The essential oil obtained from leaves contained high amount of carvone (21.38%), cis-carveol (13.49%); The rhizomes oil was rich in linalool formate (25.47%), eugenol (11.84%); and the stems oil was dominated by α-terpineol (39.86%), linalool formate (30.55%). The leaves oil represented the highest ability in all of the antioxidant activity tests. For antimicrobial activity, the rhizome oil presented more active when compared to leaves oil against Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus thuringiensis, Staphylococcus aureus, methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Aeromonas hydrophila, Escherichia coli, Enterobacter aerogenes, Proteus mirabilis, Shigella sonnei, Serratia marcescens, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Candida albicans, and Candida parapsilosis. Conclusions The most components of the essential oils belong to oxygenated monoterpenes. Linalool formate, carvone, and α-terpineol are found as the most abundant compounds in the oils of the different parts of E. sayapensis. The rhizomes oil can prevent the growth of wide spectrum microorganisms; however, the oils are not highly potent in antioxidant assays.