Biological Activity of the Egyptian Medicinal Plants: Part 4 Cytotoxicity of 50 Egyptian Plants and Spices Against Hepatocellular Carcinoma

In Egypt, liver diseases represent a national endemic crises, annually increasing to affect younger people. About 25% of population are sharing at least one of the liver problems; cirrhosis, hepatitis C virus HCV and/or hepatocellular carcinoma HCC with 100,000 death rate annually. Screening of 50 Egyptian spices, vegetables and wild plants for cytotoxicity against HepG2, successfully uncovered the presence of 13 potent cytotoxic plant extracts with IC50 ranging from 2.5 20 μg/ml and 20 extracts with moderate activities with IC50 20-50 μg/ml. The rest of extracts showed week cytotoxic activities (IC50 > 50μg/ml, compared with Doxorubicin (IC50 21.4 μg/ml). KeywordsLiver diseases, Egyptian victims; Hepatocellular carcinoma HCC, Egyptian plants, Spices, 13 Potent anti-hepG2.