Anticancer activity of the roots of Ichnocarpus frutescens R. Br. and isolated triterpenes.

The roots of Ichnocarpus frutescens along with roots of Cissampelos pareira, Bauhinia vahlii and Ardisia solanacea are processed together and given orally to cure stomach cancer by the tribes of Chotanagpur and Santhal parganas of Bihar, India. In vitro anticancer activity of the residue from methanolic extract of roots of I. frutescens (MIF) and isolated triterpenes were evaluated by 3-(4, 5-dimethyl thiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay using MCF-7, BEL-7402, SPC-A-1 and SGC-7901 cancer cell lines. MIF showed significant anticancer activity on four cancer cell lines with IC50 values 163.5±3.58, 156.3±2.95, 142.6±2.60 and 112.4±1.85 respectively as compared to vehicle treated control. Ursolic acid showed anticancer activity on four cancer cell lines with IC50 values 8.5±0.29, 9.9±0.12, 8.1±0.40 and 6.2±0.23 respectively, while IC50 values for α-amyrin on four cancer cell lines was found to be 7.2±0.12, 8.2±0.29, 7.6±0.06 and 5.0±0.12 respectively.