In vitro cytotoxicity activity of the methanol leaf extract of Picralima nitida on Human Colorectal Adenocarcinoma Cell lines (HT-29)

The anti-proliferative effect of the methanol leaf extract of Picralima nitida on Human Colorectal Adenocarcinoma Cell lines (HT-29) was investigated using the Cell Titer 96 MTT assay because Picralima nitida is a therapeutic herb used in ethnomedicine for the management of several disease conditions. Cells were cultured to confluence, trypsinized, and plated in 96-well plates for cell proliferation assay. Twenty four hours after plating, cells were treated with various concentrations (62.5, 125, 250 μm) of the extract along with the control in the presence or absence of Calphostin C (10 μm) or Tyrphostin (10 μm) and cultured for 24–72 h to determine effects of treatment on cell growth. MTT assay was performed at 24, 48 and 72. MTT assay was performed over 3 days. In vitro antiproliferative study showed that the extract at all concentrations caused cytotoxicity of the HT29 cells. The extract in the absence of the enzyme inhibitors caused a higher cell inhibition than in their presence with the 62.5 μm/ml causing a higher inhibitory effect on the cells. The ability of the methanol leaf extract of Picralima nitida with a higher antiproliferative property in the absence of the enzyme inhibitors is a pointer to its cytotoxic efficacy. It was thus concluded from this study that the plant extract from Picralima nitida has anti-proliferative/cytotoxic effect hence further evaluation on the constituents responsible for this effect may be explored.