ANTI-PROLIFERATIVE AND APOPTOSIS INDUCING EFFECT OF NARAVELIA ZEYLANICA L. AGAINST LUNG CANCER CELL LINE A549

Cancer is one of the most dangerous diseases globally, and it appears due to extreme free radical damage, some chemicals, and a lack of physical activity which dispute causes damage to the cellular DNA, protein, and lipids. A number of treatment methods are available, but they cause unwanted side effects. The use of plant-derived products in the treatment of cancer prominently reduces adverse and toxic side effects. The present study investigated the antiproliferative effects of Naraveliya zeylanica L. against the human lung cancer cell line A549. The cytotoxicity potential of ethanol extract of N. zeylanica was tested on A549 cell line by dose-dependent manner at concentrations ranging from 100-1000 µg/mL, and the viability of treated cells was evaluated by MTT assay. Different morphological changes in the cells and mode of cell death were analyzed by acridine orange/ethidium bromide (AO/EB) staining, single-cell gel electrophoresis (comet) assay and Hoechst staining methods. JC1 staining was adopted to check mitochondria-mediated apoptosis. Ethanol extract of N. zeylanica significantly inhibited the growth of lung cancer (A549) cells with induction of apoptosis. The IC₅₀ concentration of (435.50 ± 0.05 µg/ml) the extract remarkably induced the A549 cell apoptosis and reduced the mitochondrial membrane potential. Taken together, our findings indicated that the ethanol extract of N. zeylanica possessed potent antiproliferative and apoptotic activities.