Cytotoxicity Evaluation of Erythrina lithosperma Miq. Leaf Extract against Vero Cell Lines: In Vitro Study

Abstract

In several societies, the development of traditional medicine employing plants to enhance medicinal formulations has been promoted as a valuable offering in therapeutic applications. Bali Province in Indonesia, which has a healthy culture until now, has a rich history of traditional medicine regarding the utilization of local plants. The purpose of this study was to determine the cytotoxicity of Erythrina lithosperma Miq leaf extract (ELLE) on Vero cells to gain knowledge of its potential as a standardized traditional medicine. A cytotoxicity test was performed on Vero cell lines grown on M119 medium with 10% FBS and incubated at 37°C in a CO2 incubator until confluent. Cells were collected and grown in 96 well microplates at a cell density of 2x104 cells/100mL/well at the start. After a 24-hour incubation period, extracts were subjected to concentrations ranging from 31.25 to 10,000µg/ml. Cell viability was determined using the MTT technique (3-[4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide). A one-way ANOVA test with a significance level of 5% was performed. Cell viability increased with decreasing concentration extracts used. There was no significant difference between concentrations of 500, 250, 125, 63, and 31µg/ml. A consistent and significant reduction occurred in cell proliferation added with very high extract concentrations. Empirically ELLE can be used as a traditional medicine for certain diseases, this experiment reduces the viability of Vero cells lines at very high concentrations. Overall, the findings of this study suggest that the investigated ELLE might be developed as a novel dietary component and traditional medicinal preparation for promoting human health.