Anticancerous Effect of Typhonium flagelliforme on Human T4-Lymphoblastoid Cell Line CEM-ss

Medicinal Plants with Anti-Leukemic Effects: A Review

Leukemia is a leukocyte cancer that is characterized by anarchic growth of immature immune cells in the bone marrow, blood and spleen. There are many forms of leukemia, and the best course of therapy and the chance of a patient’s survival depend on the type of leukemic disease. Different forms of drugs have been used to treat leukemia. Due to the adverse effects associated with such therapies and drug resistance, the search for safer and more effective drugs remains one of the most challenging areas of research. Thus, new therapeutic approaches are important to improving outcomes. Almost half of the drugs utilized nowadays in treating cancer are from natural products and their derivatives. Medicinal plants have proven to be an effective natural source of anti-leukemic drugs. The cytotoxicity and the mechanisms underlying the toxicity of these plants to leukemic cells and their isolated compounds were investigated. Effort has been made throughout this comprehensive review to highlight the recent developments and milestones achieved in leukemia therapies using plant-derived compounds and the crude extracts from various medicinal plants. Furthermore, the mechanisms of action of these plants are discussed.

Chemical Composition and Evaluation of the α-Glucosidase Inhibitory and Cytotoxic Properties of Marine Algae Ulva intestinalis, Halimeda macroloba, and Sargassum ilicifolium

Seaweed has tremendous potentials as an alternative source of high-quality food products that have attracted research in recent times, due to their abundance and diversity. In the present study, three selected seaweed species commonly found in the Malaysian Peninsular, Ulva intestinalis, Halimeda macroloba, and Sargassum ilicifolium, were subjected to preliminary chemical screening and evaluated for α-glucosidase inhibitory and cytotoxic activities against five cancer cell lines. Chemical composition of U. intestinalis, H. macroloba, and S. ilicifolium methanolic extracts was evaluated by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. Our results revealed the highest total carotenoids (162.00 μg g-1 DW), chlorophyll a (313.09 ± 2.53 μg g-1 DW), and chlorophyll b (292.52 ± 8.84 μg g-1 DW) concentrations in U. intestinalis. In the α-glucosidase inhibitory activity, S. ilicifolium demonstrated the lowest efficacy with an IC50 value of 38.491 ppm compared to other species of seaweed. H. macroloba extract, on the other hand, was found to be the most cytotoxic toward MCF-7 and HT 29 cells with IC50 of 37.25 ± 0.58 and 21.32 ± 0.25 μg/mL, respectively, compared to other cell lines evaluated. Furthermore, H. macroloba extract was also found to be less toxic to normal cell (3T3) with IC50 of 48.80 ± 0.11 μg/mL. U. intestinalis extract exhibited the highest cytotoxicity toward Hep G2 cells with IC50 of 23.21 ± 0.11 μg/mL, whereas S. ilicifolium was less toxic to MDA- MB231 cell with IC50 of 25.23 ± 0.11 μg/mL. Subsequently, the GC-MS analysis of the methanolic extracts of these seaweed samples led to the identification of 27 metabolites in U. intestinalis, 22 metabolites in H. macroloba, and 24 metabolites in S. ilicifolium. Taken together, the results of this present study indicated that all the seaweed species evaluated are good seaweed candidates that exhibit potential for cultivation as functional food sources for human consumption and need to be promoted.

Immunomodulatory Effects of Ethanolic Extract of Thyphonium flagelliforme (Lodd) Blume in Rats Induced by Cyclophosphamide

The present study aimed to examine the immunomodulatory effect of ethanolic extract of Typhonium flagelliforme (Lodd) Blume in cyclophosphamide-treated rats. The immunomodulatory effects were determined by lymphocytes proliferation, phagocytic activity of macrophages, plasma cytokines of tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-1α, interleukin-10 levels, and killer T cells (CD8+ T cells) counts. The results showed that the administration of ethanolic extract of T flagelliforme reduced immunosupessive effect on lymphocyte proliferation, increase the number and phagocytic activity of macrophages in cyclophosphamide-treated rats. Moreover, the ethanolic extract of T flagelliforme also significantly ( P < .05) improved the immune system activities especially the proliferation of CD8+T cells and reduced the suppressive effects on cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-1α. In conclusion, the ethanolic extract of T flagelliforme has immunomodulatory properties in cyclophosphamide-treated rats. The results suggest that T flagelliforme can reduce immunosuppresive effect caused by a chemotherapeutic agent.

In Vitro Ultramorphological Assessment of Apoptosis on CEMss Induced by Linoleic Acid-Rich Fraction from Typhonium flagelliforme Tuber

The plant Typhonium flagelliforme, commonly known as “rodent tuber” in Malaysia, is often used as a health supplement and traditional remedy for alternative cancer therapies, including leukemia. This study aimed to evaluate in vitro anti-leukemic activity of dichloromethane extract/fraction number 7 (DCM/F7) from T. flagelliforme tuber on human T4 lymphoblastoid (CEMss) cell line. The DCM extract of tuber has been fractionated by column chromatography. The obtained fractions were evaluated for its cytotoxicity toward CEMss cells as well as human primary blood lymphocytes (PBLs). Assessment of apoptosis produced by the most active fraction was evaluated by various microscopic techniques and further confirmation of apoptosis was done by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay. Phytochemical screening was done by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The results shows that 7 out of 12 fractions showed significant cytotoxicity against the selected cell line CEMss, in which fractions DCM/F7, DCM/F11 and DCM/F12 showed exceptional activity with 3, 5 and 6.2 μg ml⁻¹, respectively. Further studies in the non-cancerous PBL exhibited significant selectivity of DCM/F7 compared to other fractions. Cytological observations showed chromatin condensation, cell shrinkage, abnormalities of cristae, membrane blebbing, cytoplasmic extrusions and formation of apoptotic bodies as confirmed collectively by double-staining of acridine orange (AO)/propidium iodide (PI), SEM and TEM. In addition, DCM/F7 has increased the cellular DNA breaks on treated cells. GC-MS revealed that DCM/F7 contains linoleic acid, hexadecanoic acid and 9-hexadecanoic acid. The present results indicate that T. flagelliforme possess a valuable anti-leukemic effect and was able to produce distinctive morphological features of cell death that corresponds to apoptosis.

Typhonium flagelliforme induces apoptosis in CEMss cells via activation of caspase-9, PARP cleavage and cytochrome c release: its activation coupled with G0/G1 phase cell cycle arrest

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

The plant Typhonium flagelliforme (TF), commonly known as 'rodent tuber' in Malaysia, is often used as traditional remedy for cancer, including leukemia.

AIM OF THE STUDY

We had previously identified morphologically that the linoleic acid rich fraction (DCM/F7) from the tubers of this plant induces selective anti-proliferative effects and apoptosis in CEMss cells. In this present study, we subjected the same DCM/F7 fraction to cell based activity analyses in order to determine the possible mechanism of cell death in leukemic CEMss cells in vitro.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Extraction of Typhonium flagelliforme tuber has done and fractionation has been done by vacuum liquid column chromatography. The anti-proliferative activity was assayed using MTT and the apoptosis detection was done by Annexin V and DNA laddering assay. Colorimetric caspase assay and immunoblot analysis were employed to detect the expression of protein associated with cell death. Cell cycle analysis was done using flow cytometry.

RESULTS

We found that the cancer inhibitory effect of the DCM/F7 fraction in CEMss cells was 3 ± 0.08 μg/ml (IC(50)). An early apoptotic induction in CEMss cells was observed by Annexin V assay, which showed a clear dose-dependent DNA fragmentation being observed in gel electrophoresis at 10 and 20 μg/ml. The DCM/F7 fraction at 3 μg/ml significantly arrested CEMss cells at G0/G1 phase (p<0.05). A constant but increasing pattern-related Sub-G0/G1 index was observed between 12 and 72 h treatment. In relation to this, we further investigated the biochemical events leading to cell death and found that the DCM/F7 fraction increased the cellular levels of caspase-3 and -9 on treated cells. Our results indicated that cytochrome c from mitochondria into the cytosol increased gradually as the DCM/F7 concentration increases, which later lead to the subsequent cleavage of PARP in to 85kDa fragments. On the contrary, Bcl-2 protein was found to decrease concomitantly during treatment.

CONCLUSIONS

Collectively, results presented in this study demonstrated that the DCM/F7 fraction inhibited the proliferation of leukemia cells, leading to the programmed cell death, which was confirmed to be through the mitochondrial pathway.

Typhonium flagelliforme inhibits the proliferation of murine leukemia WEHI-3 cells in vitro and induces apoptosis in vivo

Typhonium flagelliforme (TF) is a tropical plant, traditionally used by the ethnic population of Malaysia for the cure of various cancers. This plant had shown to induce antiproliferative effect as well as apoptosis in cancer cells. However, there is no available information to address that TF affects murine leukemia cells in vitro and in vivo. Here, we investigated in vitro and in vivo effects of TF on murine leukemia WEHI-3 cells. It was found that the growth of leukemia cells in vitro was inhibited by the various extracts of TF. Among these fractions, the dichloromethane (DCM) tuber extracts of TF showed the lowest IC(50) (24.0 ± 5.2 μg/ml) and had demonstrated apoptogenic effect when observed under fluorescent microscope. We investigated the in vivo effects of DCM tuber extracts of TF on murine leukemia cells, and the results showed that the counts of immature granulocytes and monocytes were significantly decreased in peripheral blood of BALB/c leukemia mice after the oral administration of DCM tuber extracts of TF for 28 days with three doses (200, 400 and 800 mg/kg). These results were confirmed by observing the spleen histopathology and morphology of enlarged spleen and liver in leukemia mice when compared with the control. Furthermore, the cell death mechanism in the spleen tissue of treated mice was found via apoptosis.