cytotoxic effects of different extracts and latex of ficus carica l. on hela cell line

it has been reported that latex and extracts of different species of ficus are cytotoxic to some human cancerous cell lines. in this study, cytotoxicity of fruit and leaf extracts as well as the latex of ficus carica l. on hela cell line were evaluated. ethanolic extracts of leaves and fruits were prepared through percolation and ethyl acetate and dichloromethane extracts were prepared by reflux method. cytotoxic effects of these extracts and latex against hela cell line were then examined. briefly, hela cells were seeded at 2 × 104 cells/ml in 96-well plates. after 24 h incubation at 37°c, the cells were treated with different concentrations of the extracts or latex. the viability of the cells was determined by the reduction of 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (mtt) from formazan following 48 h incubation and the absorbance was measured at 540 nm using an elisa plate reader. the results indicated that the latex and different extracts of ficus carica could reduce the viability of the hela cells at concentrations as low as 2 µg/ml in a dose dependent manner. the approximate ic50 values of the ethanolic, ethyl acetate and dichloromethane extracts of the leaves and fruits were 10, 19, 12 µg/ml and 12, 12, 11.5 µg/ml, respectively. the ic50 for the latex was about 17 µg/ml.