Investigating the pharmacological potential of Iris kashmiriana in limiting growth of epithelial tumors

Background Iris kashmiriana , a medicinal plant growing under Kashmir conditions, has been found very useful for pulmonary asthma, cancer, inflammation, liver and uterine diseases in traditional medicine. The medicinal importance of the plant prompted isolation of a variety of pharmacologically active compounds including quinones , triterpenoids , flavonoids , isoflavonoids and stilbene glycosides . Objective To evaluate the antiproliferative and antioxidant potential of methanolic extract of rhizomes of I. kashmiriana . Material & methods The effect of I. kashmiriana was evaluated against human epithelial cancer cell lines A549 and Caco-2 for their possible effect on cell proliferation. Free radical scavenging activity was tested by DPPH assay against known antioxidant Vitamin C. The extract was also analyzed for active components by RP-HPLC. Results The extract showed potent cytotoxic effect on both epithelial cell lines at all the tested concentrations with significant effect at 400 μg/ml (IC 50 (A549) = 128.7 μg/ml; IC 50 (Caco-2) = 237.76 μg/ml) as evaluated by MTT assay. The effect was, however, less pronounced on mouse fibroblast cell line NIH-3T3 (IC 50 (NIH-3T3) = 1182.92 μg/ml), indicative of possible cell specific activity against epithelial cancers. Furthermore the free radical scavenging activity as verified by DPPH assay revealed that the methanolic extract of I. kashmiriana has strong antioxidant potential. HPLC analysis showed respectable amount of Irigenin and Tectorigenin present in the extract. Conclusion The results demonstrate pharmaceutical potential of I. kashmiriana for treatment of epithelial cancers and other inflammatory diseases .