Abstract

The different effects on human tumor cells (MCF-7, HepG2, HCT116, HeLa, HL-60, HaCaT) for Ukrainian plant extracts has been examined for the first time. The extracts were from Crocus sativus (stigma, flowers, leaves, corms), Juno bucharica (leaves), Gladiolus hybrid Zefir (leaves) and Iris hungarica (rhizomes) from Iridaceae family. All studied extracts exhibited in vitro dose- and time-dependent killing capabilities on applied tumor cell lines. Their killing activity was tissue-specific toward tumor cells. The HL-60 cell line obtained from a patient with acute promyelocytic leukemia and HCT116 colon adenocarcinoma cells line were found as the most sensitive towards treatment with studied plant extracts. It was found that the extracts were not active against normal human epidermal keratinocytes of the HaCaT line. Gladiolus leaves extract showed particularly strong anticancer properties in vitro. Current results for the first time suggest that Iridaceae plant water dry extracts are promising anticancer reagents. Subsequently, the results can be used to develop a prevention agent for the treatment of human cancers.

Key words: anti-cancer activity; Iridaceae; dry extracts