Screening of in vitro cytotoxic activity of some medicinal plants used traditionally to treat cancer in Chhattisgarh state, India

Objective To explore the cytotoxic activity of the alcoholic extracts of some medicinal plants used traditionally to treat cancer in Chhattisgarh state, India. Methods In-vitro cytotoxicity of alcoholic extracts of five plants i.e. Artocarpus heterophyllus, Alangium salvifolium, Buchanania lanzan, Sesbania grandiflora and Wrightia tinctoria was studied against human breast cancer (MCF-7) and human leukemia (HL-60) tumor cell lines, using the thiazolyl blue test (MTT) assay. Results Alcoholic extract of Sesbania grandiflora exhibited a prominent inhibitory effect against MCF-7 (IC 50 7.00±0.08 μg/mL) and HL-60 (IC 50 18.50±0.60 μg/mL) under in vitro condition. Conclusions From the result it can be found that the Sesbania grandiflora extract has potent in vitro cytotoxic activity.