Vatica diospyroides Symington type LS Root Extract Induces Antiproliferation of KB, MCF-7 and NCI-H187 Cell Lines

Purpose: To investigate the therapeutic efficacy of V. diospyroides Symington type LS root extract as a chemopreventive agent against various cancer cell lines. Methods: Acetone root extract was evaluated for in vitro cytotoxicity against KB (oral cavity cancer), MCF-7 (breast cancer), and NCI-H187 (small cell lung cancer), using Resazurin microplate assay (REMA). Toxicity against a representative normal cells, Vero (African green monkey kidney), was assessed using green fluorescence protein (GFP)-based assay. Results: V. diospyroides root extract showed significant cytotoxic effects on KB and MCF-7 cell lines in a dose-dependent manner with IC50 of 35.05 ± 1.45 and 36.63 ± 3.40 μg/mL, respectively. NCI-H187 was not significantly inhibited (≤ 19.39 % inhibition) at the concentrations tested. IC50 against Vero cells was outside the concentration range of 0.2 50 μg/mL. Conclusion: These results indicate that the root extract of V. diospyroides has in vitro cytotoxic effect on human oral cavity cancer and breast cancer cells. No toxic effect on normal cells was observed. Thus, the extract may provide bioactive substances for human cancer therapy.