Evaluation of Anti-Cancer Activity of Saraca asoca Flower Extract against Lung Cancer Cell Line

Lung cancer is the second most common type of cancer, affecting one out of every five men and one out of every nine women. Lung cancer treatment is dictated by the cell type of the cancer, the amount to which it has spread, and the patient's overall condition. It is well known that cancer cells, in part due to apoptotic pathway malfunction, confer resistance to chemotherapy drugs or radiation. Saraca Asoca (S. asoca) has been used as medicinal remedies for various ailments due to its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, anti-tumor activity. The objective of the study was to evaluate the anti-cancer activity of S. asoca flower extract against lung cancer cell line. The cytotoxic effect of S. asoca flower extract was carried out by cell viability assay against the lung cell line (A549). Different concentrations of S. asoca flower ethanolic extract (20-120µg/ml) were treated for 24h. Furthermore, the morphological changes were analysed using inverted microscopy. The nuclear morphology of S. asoca flower ethanolic extract treated lung cancer was analyzed by DAPI staining. The cell viability assay clearly showed that the extract of S. asoca flower treatment has significantly reduced the lung cancer cell viability in a dose dependent manner. We observed the IC50 dose at 60 μg/ml concentration. The DAPI staining results showed increased apoptotic cells with condensed chromatin and nuclear fragmentation in ethanolic extract of S. asoca flower treatment in lung cancer cells. The present study shows ethanolic extract of S. asoca flower treatment inhibits cell growth and induces the apoptosis in lung cancer cells. Further research is needed to find out the active compounds and understand the mechanisms of anti-cancer effects of S. asoca flower.