Analysis Of Antioxidant and Anticancer Properties in Methanolic Extract of Piper Sarmentosum Roxb. Against Mcf-7 Cells

Abstract

Cancer is by far one of the most worrying health issues that continue to be the major killing diseases worldwide, accounting for more than six million deaths. In the confrontation of advances in modern medicine such as surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and hormone therapy, cancer disease persists as a worldwide problem. In recent years, there has been a focused effort to explore new alternatives, with a particular emphasis on identifying medicinal herbs from local natural resources. Approximately, 60% of cancer drugs are derived from natural sources, due to their fewer side effects. Piper sarmentosum Roxb. which is locally known as ‘kaduk’, is a natural medicinal plant that has been used traditionally to treat headache, arthritis, menstrual pain, cough, and eczema. It is proven to have various biological properties such as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antimalarial,  antiplasmodial, anti-diabetic, antifungal, and anti-carcinogenic. In this study, the phenolic content of P. sarmentosum was quantified using Folin-Ciocalteu method. Next, the antioxidant activity was determined using a DPPH scavenging assay. MTS assay was conducted to analyse the effect of the extract on human breast cancer cells, MCF-7. The results showed that the P. sarmentosum extract contained a high TPC which was 89.22 mg GAE/g. The extract also exhibited a good antioxidant activity with an EC50 value of 96.98 ± 2.29 ?g/mL. The in vitro cytotoxicity test on MCF-7 cell proliferation showed the extracts’ IC50 at 24.63 ± 0.23 ?g/mL. In conclusion, methanolic extract of P. sarmentosum contained a high phenolic content and is a potent antioxidant capacity as well as anticancer activity against the tested breast cancer cell.
Keywords: Breast cancer, medicinal plant, Piper sarmentosum, phenolic content, radical scavenging
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