In vitro Antioxidant and Cytotoxic Activities of New Herbal Ointments

ABSTRACT

Objective: The present study was aimed to investigate the possible effect of newer poly herbal ointment formulations against skin cancers. Materials and Methods: The newer polyherbal ointment formulations (PHF-I, PHF-II and PHF-III) containing varying proportions of Zingiber officinale (rhizome), Curcuma longa (rhizome), Aloe barbadensis (leaf), Citrus aurantium (peels), Emblica officinalis (fruit) extracts and castor oil (Ricinus communis) were evaluated for their in vitro antioxidant activity (by using DPPH radical scavenging activity, H2 O2 radical scavenging activity, Hydroxyl radical scavenging activity, total phenolic content and total reducing power assay) and in vitro cytotoxic activity (MTT assay) against skin cancer cell lines A431(skin carcinoma), A375 (melanoma) using Cisplatin as standard. Results: All the formulations have shown significant antioxidant activity (p<0.05) and (p<0.005) when compared to standard. PHF–II was found to be more potent than PHF-I and PHF-III. From these results PHF-II was selected for cytotoxic activity. PHF-II was found to be nontoxic for normal skin cells (HaCaT) but was found to exhibit toxicity for skin cancer cells with IC50 values of 35 µg/ml and 41.5 µg/ml respectively on A375 and A431 cell lines. These results were compared to that of the standard cisplatin (IC50 =20 µg/ml on A375 and IC50 =9.01 µg/ml on A431 cell lines). Conclusion: PHF-II containing Aloe vera, Curcuma longa and Zingiber officinale extracts in a relatively higher proportion exhibited the highest antioxidant and cytotoxic activities against skin cancer cell lines amongst the three formulations.

KEYWORDS

• Antioxidant
• Cytotoxicity
• Polyherbal Formulation (PHF)
• Free Radicals
• Absorbance
• Ointments

Showing references and in-text citations exactly as published.

• DOI10.5530/ijper.50.2.12Copy

RELATED ARTICLES

Matched on section and article type within this issue of IJPER.

• Article · VOLUME 50, ISSUE 2SIn vitro Anti-oxidant Assay, HPLC Profiling of Polyphenolic Compounds, AAS and FTIR Spectrum of Malaysian Origin Solanum torvum FruitSathyanarayana Namani, Sunitha Paripelli, Suresh V Chinni, Marimuthu Kasi, Sreeramanan Subramaniam, Xavier Rathinam · pp. s11–s20Pharmaceutical ResearchSame type: Article
• Article · VOLUME 50, ISSUE 2SInhalable Cationic Niosomes of Curcumin Enhanced Drug Delivery and Apoptosis in Lung Cancer CellsKiran Jyoti, Ravi Shankar Pandey, Jitender Madan, Upendra Kumar Jain · pp. s21–s31Pharmaceutical ResearchSame type: Article
• Article · VOLUME 50, ISSUE 2SA Comparative Docking Studies of Dichloroacetate Analogues on Four Isozymes of Pyruvate Dehydrogenase Kinase in HumansMasood Fereidoonnezhad, Zeinab Faghih, Ayyub Mojaddami, Amirhossein Sakhteman, Zahra Rezaei · pp. s32–s38Pharmaceutical ResearchSame type: Article
• Article · VOLUME 50, ISSUE 2SOccurrence of the Triple Whammy in an Outpatient Clinic of a Tertiary HospitalHanis Hanum Zulkifly, Haifak Mat Zaid, Yaman Walid Kassab, Long Chiau Ming, Nahlah Elkudssiah Ismail, Shazwani Shaharuddin · pp. s39–s44Pharmaceutical ResearchSame type: Article