Antiproliferative activities of Artemisia herba-alba ethanolic extract in human colon cancer cell line (HCT116)

Artemisia herba-alba (AHE) is a plant commonly used in traditional medicine for the treatment of various ailments. Here, we investigated the antioxidant and antitumor activity of the aqueous and ethanol extracts of AHE in human colon cancer HCT116 cells. The antioxidant activity was measured by DCFH assay, while antitumor effects were assessed by cell viability assays, cell cycle progression by flow cytometry, and DNA fragmentation analysis in addition to investigating the expression of key cell cycle and apoptotic proteins. While the aqueous extract had no antineoplastic effects, the ethanol extract significantly decreased HCT116 viability (IC50 of 51mg/mL at 24 h) and inhibited the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Treatment of HCT116 cells with the ethanol extract also caused dramatic increase in the PreG1 population with concomitant decrease in cycling cells, provoked DNA fragmentation, significant increase in the expression levels of p53 and Bax proteins and activated pro-apoptotic caspase-3. The results obtained suggest that the ethanol extract of AHE could be used as an easily accessible source of natural antioxidants and as potential phytochemicals against colon cancer.