Screening of medicinal plants used In traditional indian medicine for in Vitro cytotoxicity and antiproliferative Activity

Abstract

Background: Cancer is a major health burden globally. In recent years, a lot of research has been focussed on the synthesis of potential anticancer drugs from alternative sources due to side effects associated with current chemotherapeutic drugs. The use of plant based products in medicine, including cancer therapy, has been prominent since long. It has been evidenced through the successful development of anticancer drugs like vinca alkaloids (vincristine, vinblastin) from Vinca rosea. With the use of simple yet effective screening models like the BSL bioassay it is possible to screen numerous extracts/fractions for their cytotoxicity. The integration of molecular docking and in vitro studies can help cancer drug discovery with good consistency of the results between the two approaches. Objectives: To identify potential cytotoxic constituents from plants from Indian system of medicine through bioactivity guided fractionation.