In Vitro Study of the Cytotoxic, Cytostatic, and Antigenotoxic Profile of Hemidesmus indicus (L.) R.Br. (Apocynaceae) Crude Drug Extract on T Lymphoblastic Cells

Abstract

In traditional Indian medicine, the crude drug <i>Hemidesmus indicus</i> root-commonly known as Indian sarsaparilla-is used alone or in poly-herbal preparations for the treatment of a wide range of diseases. The present study focuses on the cancer chemopreventive and therapeutic potential of <i>H. indicus</i> extracts on an acute lymphoblastic leukemia cell line (CCRF-CEM). With this aim in mind, we subjected <i>H. indicus</i> roots to two subsequent extractions (hydro-alcoholic extraction and soxhlet extraction). As DNA damage is an important prerequisite for the induction of mutations/cancer by genotoxic carcinogens, cancer chemoprevention may be achieved by preventing genotoxicity. Through an integrated experimental approach, we explored the genoprotective potential of the soxhlet <i>H. indicus</i> extract against different mutagenic compounds and its cytotoxic, proapoptotic, and cytostatic properties. In our experimental conditions, <i>H. indicus</i> induced a cytotoxic effect involving the activation of both intrinsic and extrinsic apoptotic pathways and blocked the cell cycle in the S phase. Moreover, the antigenotoxicity results showed that the extract was able to mitigate DNA damage, an essential mechanism for its applicability as a chemopreventive agent, via either the modulation of extracellular and intracellular events involved in DNA damage. These data add to the growing body of evidence that <i>H. indicus</i> can represent a noteworthy strategy to target early and late stages of cancer.