In Vitro Antioxidant and Anticancer Studies on the Leaf of Acalypha indica

Major diseases like cancer, athresclerosis,hypertension etc are caused because of inheritance, life style, food style and environmental factors , also stress play a major role in developing all diseases. Free radicals are generated due to stress and develop cancer and heart diseases etc. these free radicals are quenched by antioxidants such as vitamin-c and e also occur as polyphenols, phenolic compounds and flavanoids. Acalypha indica was found to have antioxidant compounds such as flavonoids and tannins.Hence antioxidant and in vitro anticancer (cytotoxicity) activities were carried out on the leaf extract of A. indica. Aim of this study to provide an introduction to the principles of drug treatment for solid tumours in cancer treatment. Antioxidant activity was studied by conducting lipid peroxidation assay, the total antioxidant capacity of Et OH and water extracts was found to be 442 and 338 nmol/g respectively thus establishing Et OH and water extracts of A.indica possess antioxidant activity. In vitro cytotoxicity(anticancer) activity was studied by growing Agrobacterium tumefacians on yeast extract media for 48 hrs at 28°. Russet potatoes were disinfected by scrubbing under running water with a brush, then immersed in 10% Clorox for 20 min. Suspension of A. tumifaciens in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) were standardized to 1 ×109 colony forming units, as determined by an absorbance value of 0.96± 0.22 at 600 nm. Cisplatin and different Et OH and water extracts of A.Indica were dissolved in DMSO. The test solution consisted of 1 ml of drug + 0.25 ml of water. The control solution consisting of 1.25 ml of water + 1 ml of bacterial suspension. The stained potato dishes were viewed under a dissecting microscope and the mean number of tumors was counted. The results of the study showed that the extracts of A. indica produced maximum reduction in the mean number of tumors compared to control. These above studies showed that the antioxidant activity and related anticancer activity of Acalypha indica , because of the presence of flavanoids and tannins present in the Et OH and water extracts of Acalypha indica.