Purpose: The cytotoxic effects of hexane extracts of
Cassia alata
and
Psidium guajava
leaves were evaluated in OV2008 ovarian and Kasumi-1 leukemia cancer cell lines, respectively.
Methods: The cancer cells were exposed to various concentrations of either
C. alata (100 – 180 µg/ml) or
P. guajava (100 – 500 µg/ml) leaf extract for 24 h. Following treatment, the cells were evaluated using the 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay to determine the cytotoxic effect of the extracts.
C. alata extract was also analyzed using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).
Results: C. alata and
P. guajava extracts produced significant (p<0.05) cytotoxicity in OV2008 and Kasumi-1 cell lines, respectively. The IC
50 values were 160 µg/ml for
C. alata and 200 µg/ml for
P guajava. Further, the cytotoxicity exhibited by
C. alata might be attributable to the flavonoid, kaempferol, which was identified as a constituent of the extract.
Conclusion: The results suggest that further chemical analysis and mechanistic investigations should be conducted on
P. guajava and
C. alata extracts to validate their potential uses for anticancer therapy.