Antitumor activity of methanolic extract of vernoniacinerealess by human cell lines

Vernoniacinerea (L.) Less a member of family compositae (Asteraceae), is an important medicinal plant has already been in used as antibacterial, Analgesic, antipyretic, anti-inflammatory preparation. In this study an attempt of the plant has been made to evaluate the anticancer activity of the methanolic extract of the plant, as stated in many hypothesis. Themethanolic extract of leaves of VernoniacinereaL. Were screened for their anticancer activity by cell linestudies was carried out by two methods Tetrazolium salt assay and Tryphan blue dye exclusion method. In MTT Assay the total growth inhibition (TGI) of methanol extract was found to be >10 mg/ml on both cell lines (HEp 2 and HT29). The relative cell survival progressively decreased in dose dependant manner. In addition to that, Short term Cytotoxicity studies by Tryphan Blue exclusion method also confirmed the anticancer activity of vernoniacinerea L. (1mg/ml showed 77% of Cytotoxicity inhibition). Our studies point the possibility of developing Vernoniacinerea L. as a novel potential agent in the area of cancer chemotherapy. Further investigation has to be carried out in isolation and characterization of active constituents and the mechanism involving in antitumor and cytotoxic effect.