In vitro Cytotoxic Potential of Calotropis gigantea R.Br. Against Human Cancer Cell Lines

The goal of this research work was to evaluate the in vitro cytotoxic potential of the extracts from the traditional medicinal plant i.e., Calotriois gigantea R.Br. The extracts were screened for in vitro cytotoxicity by means of SRB assay on seven human cancer cell lines: colon cancer cells (COLO 205, 502713), liver cancer cells (HEP-2), prostate cancer cells (DU-145), lung cancer cells (HOP-62), ovary cancer cells (OVCAR-5) and cervical cancer cells (SiHa). Ethanolic extracts and aqueous ethanolic extract did not show significant activity against any of the cancer cell lines at the concentrations of 10μg/ml and 30μg/ml, but at the concentration of 100μg/ml, both the extracts were found active against every human cancer cell line. Aqueous extract was found active against all the human cancer cell lines at the concentration of 100μg/ml, surprisingly this extract showed cytotoxic effect on two human cancer cell lines, viz., 502713 and HEP-2 at the concentration of 10 and 30 μg/ml. These results suggest that the aqueous extract possesses more cytotoxicity against 502713 and HEP-2 than ethanolic extract and aqueous extract.