Screening of anticancer activity of selected medicinal plants indigenous to Western Ghats: Argyreia nervosa, Memecylon malabaricum and Memecylon umbellatum

The present study was undertaken to evaluate the in vitro anticancer potential of selected medicinal plants; leaves (ANL) and seeds (ANS) of Argyreia nervosa, Memecylon malabaricum (MML), and Memecylon umbellatum (MUL) in colon cancer cells. In addition, the extracts were tested for their selectivity towards cancer cells as compared to normal cells. The cell growth inhibition was tested by sulforhodamine assay in both cancer and normal cells at various concentrations. The extracts exhibited dose-dependent cytotoxicity in both cells with varying indices of selectivity. Among the tested extracts, MUL was found to exhibit the highest cytotoxicity in HCT-116 cells with an IC₅₀ of 276.63±11.75 μg/mL followed by ANL, MML, and ANS. The selectivity was also found to be most favorable in MUL. MUL also demonstrated apoptosis, the preferred mode of cell death for anticancer agents in HCT-116 by acridine orange/ethidium bromide (AO/EB) staining. Taken together, our results demonstrate that Memecylon umbellatum can act as a lead for the development of potential anticancer agents with selectivity towards cancer cells.