title: In vitro biocompatibility and proliferative effects of polar and non-polar extracts of cucurbita ficifolia on human mesenchymal stem cells.
abstract: Cucurbita ficifolia (C. ficifolia) has been traditionally known for its medicinal properties as an antioxidant, anti-diabetic and anti-inflammatory agent. However, there has been an enduring attention towards the identification of unique method, to isolate the natural components for therapeutic applications. Our study focuses on different polar and non-polar solvents (methanol, hexane and chloroform) to extract the bioactive components from C. ficifolia (pumpkin) and to study the biocompatibility and cytotoxicity effects on human bone marrow-mesenchymal stem cells (hBM-MSCs). The extracts were screened for their effects on cytotoxicity, cell proliferation and cell cycle on the hBM-MSCs cell line. The assays demonstrated that the chloroform extract was highly biocompatible, with less cytotoxic effect, and enhanced the cell proliferation. The methanol extract did not exhibit significant cytotoxicity when compare to the control. Concordantly, the cell cycle analysis confirmed that chloroform extract enhances the proliferation at lower concentrations. On the other hand, hexane extract showed high level of cytotoxicity with apoptotic and necrotic changes in hBM-MSCs. Collectively, our data revealed that chloroform is a good candidate to extract the bioactive components from C. ficifolia. Furthermore, our results suggest that specific gravity and density of the solvent might play a crucial role in the extraction process, which warrants further investigations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science and Nutrition, College of Food and Agricultural Science, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2460, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Balakrishnan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Aristatile
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science and Nutrition, College of Food and Agricultural Science, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2460, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: aghedeir@ksu.edu.sa.
authors.forename: Ghedeir M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Alshammari
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002453:Cell Cycle / Q000187:drug effects; D002460:Cell Line; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects*; D028464:Cucurbita / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000187:drug effects*; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D012997:Solvents / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D010936:Plant Extracts; D012997:Solvents
keywords: Biocompatibility; Cucurbita f; Human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (hBM-MSCs); Pumpkin extracts; icifolia