Cytotoxicity evaluation of stevioside on mcf7, hepg2 and ht29 cancerous cell lines

Hoda Abolhasani,1,* Shokoufeh mousavi,2 Ahmad abolhasani,3 Roqaieh ramynfar,4

1. Cellular and Molecular Research Centre and Medicine Faculty, Qom University of Medical Sciences, Qom, Iran.
2. Medicine Faculty, Qom University of Medical Sciences, Qom, Iran.
3. Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Advanced Sciences and Technologies, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran.
4. Medicine Faculty, Qom University of Medical Sciences, Qom, Iran.

Abstract

Introduction

Cancer is the second leading cause of death globally, and is responsible for an estimated 9.6 million deaths in 2018. globally, about 1 in 6 deaths is due to cancer. although great advancements have been made in the treatment and control of cancer progression, but cancer incidence is still increasing rapidly and significant deficiencies for improvement remain. stevioside is a diterpene glycoside found in the leaf of stevia rebaudiana, a traditional oriental medicinal herb, which has been shown to have various biological and ethno-medicinal activities including antitumor activity.

Methods

In this study, cytotoxic activity of stevioside was evaluated as an anticancer agent and was compared with cisplatin as a well-known anticancer drug. the cytotoxic effects of stevioside and cisplatin on mcf7 (breast), ht29 (colon) and hep g2 (liver) cell lines were evaluated by mtt assay at 48 hours at five concentrations. elisa reader was used at 570 nm wavelengths to determine the survival of cells. ic50 values were calculated by fitting the data in a sigmoidal dose-response curve by non-linear regression analysis using graphpad prism software (version 6.01) for each cell line.

Results

Based on the results of biological evaluations of this study, stevioside has growth inhibitory effects comparable to cisplatin on the 3 cancerous cell lines mcf7, hep g2 and ht29. although stevioside with ic50 of 0.226±0.05 µm has showed the best cytotoxicity effect comparable to cisplatin with ic50 of 0.226±0.05 µm on mcf7 cell line.

Conclusion

From the results, it can be concluded that stevioside has an intensive inhibitory activity on mcf7, hep g2 and ht29 cancerous cell lines with similar efficiency as cisplatin.

Keywords

Stevioside, mtt assay, mcf7, hep g2, ht29