Anti-proliferative activity of Thai Noni (Morinda citrifolia linn.) leaf extract

In Thai Traditional medicine, the leaf of Thai Noni (Yor, Morinda citrifolia Linn.) is used for the treatment of several symptoms including cough, vomiting and pain [1]. However, scientific evidence of the benefits of the noni leaf is limited. In this study, Thai Noni leaves were extracted by several methods and were evaluated against human cancer cell lines: KB (human epidermoid carcinoma), HeLa (human cervical carcinoma), MCF-7 (human breast carcinoma) and HepG 2 (human hepatocellular carcinoma) cell lines as well as vero (African green monkey kidney cell) cell line employing the MTT colorimetric method [2], comparing to damnacanthal, rutin, and scopoletin. The dichloromethane extract of fresh leaf showed better inhibitory effect against KB and HeLa cells with IC 50 values of 21.67 and 68.50µg/ml, respectively. In a similar way, the dichloromethane extract of dried leaves revealed cytotoxicity against KB cell with IC 50 values of 39.00µg/ml, whereas lyophilized, decoction, ethanolic and methanolic extracts as well as the single compounds; rutin and scopoletin, showed reduced anti-proliferative effect in all cancer cell lines (IC 50 103->600µg/ml). Interestingly, damnacanthal showed potent cytotoxicity against either all cancer cell lines or vero cell lines. References: 1. Nandhasri, P. (2004) Songklanakarin J. Sci. Technol. 27 (Suppl. 2): 579–586. 2. Skehan, P. et al. (1990)J. Natl. Cancer. Inst. 82: 1107–1112