Cytotoxic Effect of Alkaloid Extract of Equisetum arvense Plant on Human lymphocytes and MCF7 Cancer Cell Line

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the effect of alkaloids extracted from Equisetum arvense on the proliferation of lymphocytes, breast cancer cell line (MCF7) and mice embryo fibroblast normal cell line (MEF) by exposing them for different concentrations for a period of 24 hours. The results showed that in the absence of phytohaemagglutinin (PHA), the alkaloid extract did not stimulate the division of human lymphocytes at all concentrations used. In contrast in the presence of PHA, the alkaloid extract decreased the division of human lymphocytes at all concentrations used. This decrease was significant compared with the control group, which gave a division ratio of 4.20%. The effect of alkaloid extract on the growth of MCF7 cancer cell line demonstrated that the lowest inhibition rate 20.07% was at the concentration 15.1 µg\ml, and the higher inhibition rate was 64.1% at the concentration 500 µg\ml. While in the MEF normal cell line, the higher inhibition rate was 11.3% at the concentration 500 µg\ml. In conclusion, this study showed that the alkaloid extract of E. arvense plant affects the growth of MCF7 cancer cell line and have a lower effect on the growth of lymphocytes and MEF normal cell line at high concentrations, making this plant promising candidate for the treatment of cancer but this needs more studies to prove that.