Abstract

EVALUATION OF INVITRO CYTOTOXIC ACTIVITY OF PARTS OF MURRAYA KOENIGII (CURRY) PLANT ON HUMAN PERIPHERAL BLOOD MONONUCLEAR CELLS (PBMCS)

Sudeep Nagaraj*, Jagadish Tavarekere Venkataravanappa and Praveen Kumar Kondenahalli Subbarayappa

ABSTRACT

Murraya Koenigii (curry) extensively used in traditional medicine and it is reported to have several medicinal properties. It is also used in Indian cooking, However, Murraya Koenigii also reported to be toxic to some cell types. Human peripheral blood lymphocytes were treated with various concentrations of aqueous extracts leaf, fruit and stem to assess the toxic effects on the cells. Toxicity studies were performed by the Trypan Blue dye exclusion method. The decrease in viability percentage was noticed with increasing concentration of plant extracts in the cell culture system. Cell morphology was then studied using Acridine Orange and Ethidium Bromide staining and a significant increase in the apoptotic features were noticed in cells treated with the plant extracts. The apoptotic cell morphology has been evaluated by fluorescent microscopy. It was observed that exposure to increasing concentrations of crude plant extract (50mg/ml, 100mg/mL, and 150mg/mL) resulted in a concentration-dependent decrease in cell viability. Among the 03 parts of plant studied in the present work, lymphocytes treated with crude extracts of leaf showed highest cytotoxic and apoptotic activity.

Keywords: Cytotoxicity; Murraya Koenigii; Acridine Orange; Ethidium Bromide; Trypan blue; Apoptosis.