Cytotoxicity evaluation of Ziziphus mauritiana and Oenanthe javanica on Chang liver cell lines

Ziziphus mauritiana and Oenanthe javanica which are known as bidara and selom have various uses in traditional medicine. The leaves of bidara are helpful in liver disease, asthma, spiritual treatment and fever whereas selom has been widely used to treat fever, abdominal pain, leucorrhea, and urinary problems. Even though these plants have been widely used as traditional remedy, no cytotoxic evaluation has been carried out. In this study, cytotoxicity activity of both plants was evaluated in vitro against Chang liver cells using methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) assay method. The IC50 value obtained for Ziziphus mauritiana methanolic extract and Oenanthe javanica aqueous extract were 17.23 mg/ ml and 28.13mg/ ml, respectively. This result illustrated that both plants did not produce any cytotoxic effect against Chang liver cells and considered to be toxicological safe to be taken by human for medicinal purposes. (author)