The Cytotoxic Effect of the Gleditsiae Semen Extracts on Human Colon Carcinoma Cells

The present study describes the preliminary evaluation of the cytotoxicity from Gleditsiae Semen extracts. G. Semen was extracted with methanol, ethanol, and acetone, and then cytotoxic effect of these extracts was measured by the MTT reduction assay and phasecontrast microscopy on the HT-29 human colon carcinoma cells. Among these extracts, methanol extract showed the highest cytotoxic activity on the HT-29 cells. The methanol extract was further fractionated with n-hexane, diethyl ether, ethyl acetate, and water layer according to the degree of polarity. The water layer showed the highest inhibitory activity on the growth of HT-29 cells, but the other fractions indicated the low cytotoxic activity. In addition, water layer also showed the cytotoxic activity against SW620 human colon carcinoma cells. Based on these results, we suggest that extracts of G. Semen may contain bioactive materials and are potential candidates as chemotherapeutic agents against human colon carcinoma cells.