Anticancer and antioxidant studies of the methanol extract and fractions of <i>Conyza sumatrensis</i> (retz.) E. H. Walker (asteraceae

Abstract

The in vitro antiproliferative and antioxidant studies of the leaf extract and fractions of Conyza sumatrensis was investigated by applying the Sulforhodamine-B and 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl assays (DPPH-RSA) respectively. While the antiproliferative activity was carried out at 1-250 and 1-100 μg/ mL for the extract and fractions against breast (MCF-7) and lung (NCI-H460) cancer cell lines, the antioxidant study was conducted using DPPH at 31.25 -500 μg/ mL with the total phenolic and flavonoid contents calculated as well with reference to quercetin and gallic acid respectively. The extract and fractions were observed to elicit cytotoxic and growth inhibitory effects against breast (MCF-7) and lung cancer cell lines (NCI-H460) respectively. At 250 μg/mL, the extract of C. sumatrensis gave cytotoxicity of –1.76 ± 0.20 % against MCF-7 cell lines and inhibited growth of NCI-H460 at +94.40 ± 1.0 % respectively. While the chloroform fraction at 100 μg/mL gave -5.38 ± 0.33 % and 91 ± 1.61 % against MCF-7 and NCI-H460 cell lines, the aqueous fraction was observed to be inactive. For the DPPH-RSA activity, the chloroform fraction demonstrated an IC₅₀ value of 125.5 μg/ mL compare to quercetin at 62.5 μg/ mL. The bioactivities were more pronounced in the chloroform fraction. This work has shown that C.  sumatrensis has antiproliferative and antioxidant activities which could be tied to the secondary metabolites present in the plant.