Cytotoxic Effects of Iranian Mistletoe Extract on a Panel of Cancer Cells

Extracts derived from viscum album have been shown to kill cancer cells in vitro.some studies have noted that different species of this plant collected from aroundthe world displayed cytotoxic effects in different extents. in the present study, weevaluated the effects of iranian mistletoe extracts on five cancer cell lines. plantsgrowing on hornbeam tree (carpinus betulus) were collected, air-dried andhydroalcoholic (meoh-h2o with 2% acetic acid) and methanolic extracts wereobtained using percolation. also the plant juice was obtained by pressing. cytotoxicityof the extracts on a panel of cancer cells (hela, kb, mda-mb-468, k562 and mcf-7) were studied using colorimetric mtt assay. results showed that plant juice wasthe most cytotoxic fraction on all cancer cells tested (ic50=0.0316 mg). the ic50of hydroalcoholic and methanolic extracts were 0.1 and 0.316 mg, respectively. theseresults suggest that alkaloids and huge compounds like viscotoxin and lectinsextracted by press or hydroalcoholic solvents were probably responsible for theircytotoxicity. results also indicated that hela cells were more resistant while kb cellswere more sensitive to the cytotoxic effects of the extracts. it can be concluded thatcytotoxicity of iranian mistletoe extract on the cell lines tested closely depends onthe host tree and extraction methods.