title: Evaluating the Anticancer Potential of Ethanolic Gall Extract of Terminalia chebula (Gaertn.) Retz. (Combretaceae).
abstract: Plants have been an important source for discovery of anticancer compounds. With the current decline in the number of new molecular entities from the pharmaceutical industry, novel anticancer agents are being sought from traditional medicines; therefore the anticancer efficacy of many plants that are used in traditional medicine is yet to be verified. The objective of the study was to evaluate the cytotoxic potential of ethanolic leaf gall extract of Terminalia chebula are evaluated against buffalo rat liver 3A, MCF-7 (Human mammary gland adenocarcinoma) and A-549 (Human lung cancer) cell lines. The cytotoxic effect of the ethanolic extract was evaluated by MTT assay. The extract was potent and effective in inducing cytotoxic effects in all the cell lines with an IC50 value of 305.18 ± 1.7 μg/mL, 643.13 ± 4.2 μg/mL, and 208.16 ± 3.7 μ/mL, respectively. The extract was more effective against A549 cell lines when compared to others. The presences of phenolics, triterpenoids, and flavonoids were identified in the extract. The extract showed total phenolic and flavonoid content of 478 ± 2.2 mg of gallic acid equivalent/g d.w and 538 ± 1.4 mg of quercetinequivalent/g d.w, respectively. This higher content of total phenolics and flavonoids found in the ethanolic extract was directly associated to higher cytotoxicity activity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The ethanolic leaf gall extract of T. chebula showed effective cytotoxic activities; which might be attributed to the phenolics/flavonoids present in higher concentration. Future work will be interesting to know the chemical composition of the extract and also better understand the mechanism of action of the constituents present in the extract to develop it as drug for therapeutic application.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present investigation establishes the anticancer activities of T. chebula leaf gall extracts on BRL3A, MCF-7, and A-549 cells. Presumably, these activities could be attributed in part to the phenolics/flavanoids features of the extract that has been demonstrated to act as cytotoxic agents. The experimental evidence obtained in the laboratory model could provide a rationale for the traditional use of plant as a source of easily available effective anticancer agents to the people, particularly in developing countries.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, School of Graduate Studies, Jain University, Chamrajpet, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India; Research Unit in Vrukshayurveda, A Division of Centre for Advanced Studies in Biosciences, Jain University, Chamrajpet, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India; Department of PG Studies and Research in Biotechnology, Kuvempu University, Shankaraghatta, Mysore, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: B E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Ravi Shankara
authors.affiliation: Department of PG Studies and Research in Biotechnology, Kuvempu University, Shankaraghatta, Mysore, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: Y L
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Ramachandra
authors.affiliation: Department of PG Studies and Research in Biotechnology, Kuvempu University, Shankaraghatta, Mysore, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: S Sundara
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Rajan
authors.affiliation: Research Unit in Vrukshayurveda, A Division of Centre for Advanced Studies in Biosciences, Jain University, Chamrajpet, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: P S Sujan
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Ganapathy
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Institute of Science, GITAM University, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Nagendra Sastry
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Yarla
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, University of Mysore, Mysore, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Richard
authors.affiliation: Toxinology/Toxicology and Drug Discovery Unit, Centre for Emerging Technologies, Jain University, Ramanagara, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: Bhadrapura Lakkappa
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Dhananjaya
keywords: Alternative medicine; drugs; indian medicinal plants; inhibition; traditional medicine