Combination of Leunca Herb Ethanolic Extract and Doxorubicin Suppresses HeLa Cells' Growth

Abstract

Leunca (Solanum nigrum L.) ethanolic extract showed cytotoxic activity on several cancer cell lines (HepG2, HT-29) and showed anti-proliferative activity on MCF-7 cells. Its application as a combination agent in chemotherapy will increase the effectivity and reduce the toxicity of chemotherapy. We predict that application of combinatorial chemotherapy in cancer treatment will be more effective and less toxic compared to single treatment. Our research aims to investigate the cytotoxic activitiy of leunca herbs ethanolic extract alone and in combination with doxorubicin on HeLa cell line. MTT assay was conducted to measure the growth inhibitory effect of leunca herbs ethanolic extract and combinatorial treatments. Leunca herb ethanolic extract (5, 50, 250 μg/ml) increased the cytotoxic effect of doxorubicin compared to doxorubicin alone. The strongest cytotoxic activity was resulted from the combination of 250 μg/ml leunca herbs ethanolic extract and 250 nM doxorubicin. Based on our results, leunca herbs ethanolic extract is a potential chemopreventive agent, while its molecular mechanism needs to be explored.