An investigation of the In Vitro anti-cancer properties of Acanthosicyos Naudinianus Fockeaangustifolia, cf Salvadora Persia and Nymania Capensis from Hardap and //Karas regions of Namibia
| dc.contributor.author | Stuurmann, Hatago A. | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2017-03-22T07:34:03Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2017-03-22T07:34:03Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2016 | |
| dc.description | A thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science | en_US |
| dc.description.abstract | Cancer has become a global health burden accounting for about 8.2 million deaths every year worldwide. Cancer patients or people, who experience symptoms similar to that of cancer in Namibia’s rural settings, may endure suffering for months and may even die without receiving medical attention, due to the lengthy distance between the rural areas and the nearest medical centre and the long referral process. It may even take more time to get the correct medical attention for t particular cancers. In such circumstances, patients make use of traditional medicinal plants, as an alternative and primary option for treating cancer-related ailments. However the majority of knowledge on plant based medicine in Namibia lacks scientific support and documentation in terms of safety and efficacy. Therefore this study aimed at contributing to the generation of such supporting scientific data. Plants were collected from the Hardap and the //Karas regions of Namibia. The Acanthosicyos naudinianus root Fockea angustifolia whole plant and the tuber, cf Salvadora persia root and Nymania capensis root were used to prepare aqueous (water) and organic (ethanol) plant extracts. The extracts were screened for in vitro anticancer properties using Renal cancer cell line (TK10), Breast cancer cell line (MCF-7), and the Human Melanoma cell line (UACC-62). For the cytotoxicity test, the Fibroblast cell line (WI38) was used and the Sulforhodamine B assay was employed to determine cell viability. Furthermore, Thin Layer Chromatography and the Diphenyl Picryl Hydroxyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay were utilized for phytochemicals screening, and determination of antioxidant activity of the plant extracts respectively. The phytochemical screening results showed alkaloids, flavonoids, anthraquinones, coumarins, and saponins were present in all plant parts that were screened for. Furthermore two of the aqueous plant extracts and four of the ethanol plant extracts of the investigated 10 plant part extracts exhibited in vitro anticancer activity. The aqueous root extract of Acanthosicyos naudinianus exhibited potent activity; IC50 (6.25 μg/ml, 16.41 μg/ml and 48.85 μg/ml) against MCF-7, UACC-62 and TK-10 respectively with moderate cytotoxicity against fibroblast cell lines. However the ethanol root extract of Acanthosicyos naudinianus root exhibited low in vitro anticancer activity and weak cytotoxicity effect of (IC50 83.34 μg/ml).Most significantly mechanism of action of the most potent, aqueous Acanthosicyos naudinianus plant extracts against the renal cancer cell lines was through the apoptotic pathway of the nuclear nucleosome enrichment with the up-regulation of the Histone proteins in the chromatin. The anticancer activities of the plant extracts may be attributed to the presence of phytochemicals in these plant extracts. The bioactivity observed in these extracts may be used as a baseline for anticancer drug development. Finally, the scientific findings of these plants serve as a rationalization for the use of these plants to treat cancer within the traditional settings as primary alternative medicine. Further studies are required to assess the extent of toxicity before the extracts can be recommended for mainstream usage. | en_US |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/11070/1949 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | en_US |
| dc.publisher | University of Namibia | en_US |
| dc.subject | Anticancer | en_US |
| dc.subject | Acanthosicyos naudinianus | en_US |
| dc.subject.lcsh | Medicinal plants | |
| dc.subject.lcsh | Traditional medicine | |
| dc.title | An investigation of the In Vitro anti-cancer properties of Acanthosicyos Naudinianus Fockeaangustifolia, cf Salvadora Persia and Nymania Capensis from Hardap and //Karas regions of Namibia | en_US |
| dc.type | Thesis | en_US |