Induction of Apoptosis by Selected Pakistani Medicinal Plants in Human Lymphoma U937 Cells
Abstract
Traditional medicines have long been utilized to treat different ailments and their anti-cancer potential has been well developed. In the present study, the apoptosis inducing ability of selected Pakistani medicinal plants was investigated in human lymphoma U937 cell. When the U937 cells were treated with ethanol extracts of medicinal plants for 24 h at a concentration of 100 µg/ml, evidence of apoptotic features, such as increase in the DNA fragmentation % was obtained. Among the four medicinal plants tested, Polygonumbistota (PB) showed significant (***p<0.001) increased in the DNA fragmentation % at 50 µg/ml and 100 µg/ml, respectively. Furthermore, PB treatment resulted in the activation of caspase-3. In addition, the activation of Bid was also observed following treatment with PB. Taken together, our findings provide insight into the possible mechanism of action of PB and its anti-cancer potential.