Research on natural products has been widely used as a strategy to discover new drugs with potential for applications in complementary medicines because they have fewer side effects than conventional drugs. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the in vitro cytotoxic effects of crude aqueous Catharanthus roseus extract on Jurkat cells and normal peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). The aqueous extract was
standardised to vinblastine by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and was used to determine cytotoxicity by the MTS [3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-5(3-carboxymethoxyphenyl)-2-(4-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium] assay. DNA fragmentation assay was employed to determine if cell death was due to apoptosis. The results showed that the aqueous extract induced cell death of Jurkat cells at 24, 48 and 72 hours posttreatment in a time- and dose-dependent manner. However, cells treated at 48 and 72 hours produced higher cytotoxic effects with half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50)values of 2.55 µg/ml and 2.38 µg/ml, respectively. In contrast, the extract induced normal PBMC proliferation, especially after 24 hours treatment with 1000 µg/ml. This result indicates that the C. roseus crude aqueous extract showed differential effects of inhibiting the proliferation of the Jurkat cell line and promoting the growth of PBMCs. These data suggest that the extract may be applicable for modulating the normal and transformed immune cells in leukaemia patients.
This study aims to determine the effects of bioactive glass (BG) combined with Acmella oleracea (AO) extracts on dental pulp stem cells (DPSC) viability. DPSC were exposed to different combinations of BG-AO leave extract-conditioned medium. The BG 45S5 powder was synthesized using the sol-gel method. AO extract was prepared using ethanol extraction method. Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry (GCMS) analysis of the AO ethanol extract was performed on a GCMS system consisting of an Agilent 6890 gas chromatograph coupled with an Agilent 5973 mass spectrometer. Sol-gel BG conditioned medium doped with AO extracts at various concentrations (25, 50, 100 and 250 μg/mL) with BG (1 mg/ mL) were prepared and exposed to DPSC. The DPSC was also treated using BG- and AO- only conditioned medium and non-treated cell as control. The DPSC cells’ responses were assessed using Alamar Blue (AB) assay. The results showed that GCMS analysis revealed the presence of amide, ester, terpenoid, fatty acid, alkene, terpene, carbohydrate, phenolic and alkane groups. Based on the AB assay, the BGAO- conditioned medium promoted DPSC viability. However, an increase in DPSC cell viability is clearly observed at Day 7 and 14 following exposure in BGAO-conditioned medium at the ratio of 1 mg/mL BG with 50 and 100 μg/mL of AO in comparison with AO alone. BGAO-conditioned medium at a dose of 25 μg/mL supported greater DPSC viability compared to other combination doses. The effect of combination of BG and AO towards DPSC at a certain dosage revealed continuous cell viability over the observation period and promoted cell growth that may be contributed by the combined effects of BG dissolution ions into the culture medium and also the presence of identified compound from the AO extracts namely phytol, linoleic acid, palmitic acid and 1, 4, 7,-Cycloundecatriene, 1, 5, 9, 9-tetramethyl, Z, Z, Z. Thus, it may have a significant potential to help in promoting dental and hard tissue regeneration