Abstract A5: Cytotoxic Extracts of Ethnomedicinal Plants: Podophyllum peltatum (Mayapple) and Echinacea angustifolia

Abstract Phytochemical and other natural compounds are historically established as cures for many ailments in rural America and other developing countries. Our lab is testing plants that show potential for inhibiting the growth of cancer cells. The family Asteraceae and the family Berberidacae are very well known for their values as medicinal plants. More specifically, the genus species Echinacea angustifolia and genus species Podophyllum peltatum commonly known as the Mayapple, both are noted for their unique medicinal purposes. The crude methanol extracts of these plants were tested against human metastatic cell lines representing breast (MCF-7), (BT-549) and colon (SW620) tissues. Trypan blue exclusion is used to determine viable cell counts. Alamar BlueTM and florescent analysis were used to evaluate the cytoxicity of the extracts. Analysis of the crude extracts of Echinacea angustifolia has shown on MCF-7, BT-549, and SW620 that most of them exhibit anticancer activity against the cell lines at the maximum concentration of 200 μg/mL. In particular, less diluted concentrations have demonstrated exceptional inhibitory effects with IC50 values ranging between 0.10–15 μg/mL, respectively. On the other hand, analysis of the crude extracts of Podophyllum peltatum (Mayapple) has shown on MCF-7, BT-549 and SW620 some anticancer activity against cell lines at the maximum concentration of 200 μg/mL. More specifically, the more diluted concentrations have demonstrated exceptional growth inhibition with IC50 values ranging between 2–8 μg/mL Citation Format: Olena T. James, E. Lewis Myles. Cytotoxic Extracts of Ethnomedicinal Plants: Podophyllum peltatum (Mayapple) and Echinacea angustifolia [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Noncoding RNAs and Cancer; 2012 Jan 8-11; Miami Beach, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(2 Suppl):Abstract nr A5.