Abstract

EVALUATION OF ANTICANCER AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITIES OF LEAF EXTRACT OF DESMODIUM TRIQUETRUM

Dr. Siju E. N.*, Deepika K. T., Rahul K., Dr. Hariraj N. and Minil M.

ABSTRACT

The Desmodium triquetrum (L.), (Tadehagi triquetrum), is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae. It belongs to the sub family Faboideae. The antioxidant properties elicited by the extract may be attributed to the presence of flavonoids. Flavonoids have been found to possess antimutagenic and antimalignant effects. Moreover it has protective effect against cancer by their effect on signal transduction in cell proliferation and angiogenesis. Therefore the anticancer property of D. triquetrum may be due to the presence of flavonoids. In vitro antioxidant activity was evaluated by methods like reducing power assay and DPPH assay. The extract showed good antioxidant activity comparable to that of ascorbic acid. In vitro anticancer study of the methanolic extract of D. triquetrum was evaluated by brine shrimp lethality assay, MTT assay, Alamar blue assay, and Trypan blue assay in HeLa cells. The results indicated that the methanolic extract of D. triquetrum possessed good anticancer property when compared to the standard drug 5- Fluorouracil.

Keywords: Desmodium Triquetrum, Antioxidant and Antimalignant Effects.