Screening for antitumor and anti-HIV activities of nine medicinal plants from Zaire.
Muanza D. N., Euler K. L., Williams L., Newman D. J.
Author Affiliation: Department of Pharmacological and Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204-5515, USA.
International Journal of Pharmacognosy 33 : 98-106
Abstract : Extracts of 9 Zairean medicinal plants were screened for activity against the National Cancer Institute (NCI) panel of human tumour cell lines. Extracts from the root bark of Hymenocardia acida, the stem bark of Mangifera indica, and the leaves of Sida rhombifolia, exhibited cytotoxicity against the 60 human cell lines. Of these, the methanol extract of M. indica exhibited differential cytotoxicity against the human breast cancer cell lines MDA-MB-231, MDA-MB-435, and MDA-N. The methanol extract of the leaves of Jatropha curcas afforded moderate protection of cultured human lymphoblastoid CEM-SS cells against the cytopathic effects of human immunodeficiency virus.