Cytotoxicity effect of Zataria multiflora Boiss. on two human colon carcinoma cell lines

Natural products are one of the major sources for investigations of novel medicines. Zataria multiflora Boiss (ZM) has shown pharmacological activities especially in gastrointestinal tract; however, there are limited studies about its cytotoxicity effects. In this study, the effect of Zataria multiflora was examined on two colon cancer cell lines (SW-48 and HT-29).

Hydro-alcoholic extract of ZM and its fractions including chloroform, petroleum ether and methanol extract were prepared by warm maceration method. Different concentrations were prepared and examined on SW-48 and HT-29 cell lines using 2-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl) 2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay.

The results of the present study have shown the cytotoxic effect of some fractions of ZM. The most considerable cytotoxic effect was shown against HT-29 cell line. Also, total ZM extract and the petroleum ether fraction demonstrated cytotoxic effects with IC50 values of 44.22 and 33.42 µg/ml on SW-48 and HT-29 cell lines, respectively.

Zataria multiflora was cytotoxic to against colon cancer cell lines HT-29 and SW-48.