Prostate cancer cell inhibition by ethanolic fraction of Ficus deltoidea var. kunstleri

Abstract

Ficus deltoidea or also known as ‘Mas Cotek’ belongs to the Moraceae family. It is widely used by practitioners for post-natal treatment, anti-diabetes and anti-hypertension. Study has documented that they were at least 13 different varieties of F. deltoidea. However, the present study only accounted for three varieties of F. deltoidea for the evaluation of their antioxidant and anti-cancer effects against prostate cancer cell. The varieties include F. deltoidea var. angustifolia, F. deltoidea var. deltoidea and F. deltoidea var. kunstleri. The study was divided into two parts whereby the best variety and the potent fraction were determined. The aqueous extract of F. deltoidea var. kunstleri was selected for fractionation using solid phase extraction as it demonstrated the highest content of phenolic, flavonoid, vitexin as well as lowest concentration to inhibit radical scavenging activity, IC50 0.043 mg/mL. Moreover, cytotoxicity study through the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay also demonstrated that F. deltoidea var. kunstleri had the lowest IC50 of 93.11 ?g/mL. The fractionation was accomplished using mixture of different ratio of ethanol/water. Eluent 1 (EL 1) was fractionated using 20% of ethanol/water exhibited the highest polyphenol contents and the highest inhibition against prostate cancer at 100 ?g/mL (45.45%). The mechanism involved in the reduce cell viability exerted by F. deltoidea var. kunstleri and EL 1 was due to apoptosis and it was confirmed using flow cytometry. In the event of apoptosis, cells treated with F. deltoidea var. kunstleri and EL 1 undergoes morphological changes that comprised of cell condensation, fragmentation and necrosis. Moreover, the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy - attenuated total reflectance analysis showed that EL 1 contained other chemical compounds that created a synergistic effect toward cells inhibition. Positive correlations were also established among antioxidant and anti-cancer activities of varieties and fractions. Therefore, these results suggested that antioxidant activity of F. deltoidea var. kunstleri and its fraction, EL 1 with the presence of polyphenols and vitexin can potentially be used as an anti-cancer agent especially for prostate cancer.