Investigation of cytotoxicity induced by Nigella sativa and Azadirachta indica using MDA-MB-231, HCT 116 and SHSY5Y cell lines

Background: Indian herbal plants are widely used as medicine in the ancient ayurvedic and culinary purposes. Nigella sativa that also called as in black cumin is a flowering plant in the family ranunculiceae that is native to Southeast Asia. More recently Nigella sativa is also been used as anti cancer drug and protective agent against gamma radiation induced adverse effects in cell lines. Azadirachta indica commonly called as neem, is a tree belonging to mahogany family meliaceae. Azadirachta indica is also a traditional medicinal plant that used from a very long time in Indian ayurvedic and it is also been reported to have many beneficial effects including but not limited to anti-cancer and anti-diabetic effects. Objective: Find the IC₅₀ values of Nigella sativa and Azadirachta indica ethanolic extracts in MDA-MB-231, HCT 116 and SHSY5Y cell lines. Methods: In this study we selected two cancerous cell lines (MDA-MB-231, HCT 116) and one neuronal cell line (SHSY5Y) and studied the effect of the two plant extracts namely Nigella sativa and Azadirachta indica on the cell metabolic activity. Results: This study revealed that cancerous cell lines are more prone to the plant extracts than the neuronal cell lines. These results suggest positive clues on how such medicinal plant extracts act against cancerous cells alone while affecting the normal cells to a limited extent. However, further studies are required to find if this effect is due to cytotoxicity, cytostaticity, or anti-adhesive property.