Background: Artemisinin and its derivatives are well known as anti-malaria drugs and particularly useful for the treatment of infection of Plasmodium falciparum malaria parasites. In recent years, there are many reports of anticancer activities of artemisinins both in vitro and in vivo. This study aimed to investigate the cytotoxicity and anti-angiogenic activity of the ethanolic extract of Artemisia sieberi (EEA) in comparison to its active substance, artemisinin (ART).
Methods: The cytotoxic effects of EEA and ART on the HCT-116 colorectal adenocarcinoma cells line were studied by clonogenic assay.The inhibitory effect of test compounds on angiogenesis was evaluated by three-dimensional culture cells model on human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) in cytodex-3-microcarriers as in vitro model.
Results: The results showed that EEA significantly started inhibition of colony-forming capacity of HCT-116 cells line at concentrations of 1 up to 100µg/ml (P < 0.001). We also found EEA and ART markedly reduced the angiogenic activities on HUVECs culture in a concentration-dependent fashion (P < 0.001, r = 0.997 and P< 0.001, r = 0.998 respectively).
Conclusion: It seems that EEA has high cytotoxic effect on HCT-116 cells line and also it is a potent inhibitor of angiogenesis in cultured cells. These results provide the primary findings for further investigations on therapeutic or preventive properties of Artemisia sieberi on cancer.