In vitro anticancer activity of Psoralea corylifolia Linn. seeds on human cancer cell lines

Abstract

Medicinal herbs are increasingly gaining recognition as valuable complementary therapies for cancer. Numerous clinical studies have highlighted the positive impact of herbal medicines on cancer patient’s survival, immune response and quality of life, particularly when used alongside conventional treatments. The present study has been conducted to assess the anticancer activity of Psoralea corylifolia Linn. seed aqueous extract and hydroalcoholic extract against 8 human cancer cell lines (MCF-7, HeLa, PC-3, K-562, HT-29, MDA-MB-231, DU-145 and Hep-G2). The SRB assay was used to evaluate the inhibition of cell growth. The results indicated that Psoralea corylifolia Linn. seed aqueous extract showed negligible anti-cancer property against all the cancer cell lines tested. However, Psoralea corylifolia Linn. seed 50% hydroalcoholic extract showed GI50 values of 34.6 µg/ml, 46.1 µg/ml, 30 µg/ml and 28.9 µg/ml against Breast cancer cell line (MCF-7), Cervical cancer cell line (HeLa), Prostate cancer cell line (PC-3) and Leukemia cancer cell line (K-562) respectively. Further, the 50% hydroalcoholic extract was altered with respect to the solvent used, method of preparation etc. and subsequently evaluated for its anticancer potential. The results revealed that Psoralea corylifolia Linn. soxhlet extract in absolute ethanol showed significant anticancer activity in all the above 4 cell lines with GI50 values <10 µg/ml.