EVALUATION OF IN VITRO ANTICANCER AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITIES FROM LEAF EXTRACTS OF MEDICINAL PLANT CLIDEMIA HIRTA

Objective: To evaluate the anticancer and antioxidant activity of medicinal plant Clidemia hirta extracted in different solvents. Methods: Crude extracts were prepared from the leaves of Clidemia hirta using ethanol, petroleum ether and chloroform solvents. Anticancer activities and antioxidant properties were assayed using standard yellow dye 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl- 2H -tetrazolium bromide (MTT) and 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging assay respectively. Results: We found that the ethanol extract had higher inhibition activities against Dalton’s lymphoma ascites (DLA) cancer cell line, 50% DLA cell line inhibition at 68µg/ml, while 50% inhibition by petroleum ether and chloroform extracts were at 160µg/ml and 172µg/ml, respectively. The antioxidant activity requires5µg/ml of ethanol extract to trap 50% of DPPH (IC 50 ), whereas the positive control ascorbic acid trapped 50% of DPPH (IC 50 ) at 3.5µg/ml. Conclusion: The prepared leaf extracts with different solvents of Clidemia hirta showed the antiproliferative and antioxidant activity in dose-dependent manner. Further works is required to identify the biologically active chemical constituents, responsible for cancer cell growth inhibition from this plant.