In vitro Cytotoxicity Study on U87 Cells Using Root Extracts of Plumbago Species and GC-MS Study

Plumbago is a genus of medicinal plants that are used in recent years to induce significant levels of apoptosis in various cancer cells. Purpose: The test substances that are obtained from Plumbago species are studied for their cytotoxicity against U87 cell line in a dose dependent manner and were first subjected to GC-MS study to know the bioactive constituents present in them. Methods: GC-MS was done using ethanol extracts of the roots of both the species. In vitro cytotoxicity of the roots of two species of Plumbago –P. zeylanica (sample I) and P. auriculata (sample II) were tested against U87 cell line. Test samples were taken at concentrations ranging from 400μg/ml to 3.12μg/ml to determine the percentage growth inhibition of both the test substances on U87 cell line. Results: GC-MS analysis on root extracts of P.zeylanica showed the presence of 27 phytochemical constituents and P.auriculata 16 in number .The test substances, Sample I and Sample II exhibited a cytotoxic CTC50 value of 88.07±4.4 and 23.11±0.9 respectively. Conclusion: P. zeylanica is more effective than P. auriculata in terms of its cytotoxicity as well in the number of useful bioactive compounds.