Research Article
Botanical from the Fruits Mesocarp of Raphia vinifera Displays
Antiproliferative Activity and Is Harmless as Evidenced by
Toxicological Assessments
Ga¨ elle S. Nguenang,
1
Armelle T. Mbaveng ,
1
Idrios N. Bonsou,
1
Godloves F. Chi,
2
and Victor Kuete
1
1
Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Dschang, Dschang, Cameroon
2
Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Buea, Buea, Cameroon
Correspondence should be addressed to Victor Kuete; kuetevictor@yahoo.fr
Received 27 December 2021; Revised 1 March 2022; Accepted 11 March 2022; Published 29 March 2022
Academic Editor: Jie Liu
Copyright © 2022 Ga¨ elle S. Nguenang et al. is is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution
License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is
properly cited.
Raphia vinifera is widely used to treat several diseases including digestive disorders, dysentery, and genitourinary infections. In
this study, the mineral contents, the cytotoxicity, and the toxicological effect of the crude CHCl
3
/MeOH extract (RVM) from the
mesocarp of Raphia vinifera were evaluated. e mineral contents were evaluated using the method described by the Association
of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC). e cytotoxicity of both extract and chemical compounds from the plants was de-
termined by a resazurin reduction assay (RRA). e toxicological studies were carried out using the experimental procedure of the
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). After killing the rats, biochemical, histopathological, and
hematologicalstudieswereperformed.eresultindicatedthatRVMisrichinzinc(6.52mg/100gofDM)andsodium(194.5mg/
100 g of DM). RVM had a cytotoxicity effect with IC
50
values lower than 30 μg/mL in 18/18 cancer cell lines tested. ese recorded
IC
50
values were between 12.35 µg/mL (toward CCRF-CEM leukemia cells) and 26.66 µg/mL (toward SKMel-505 BRAF wild-type
melanoma cells). Raphvinin 4 displayed good cytotoxicity against MaMel-80aBRAF-V600E homozygous mutant with the IC
50
of
10.42 μM. RVM was relatively nontoxic to rats, the median lethal dose (DL
50
) being above 5000 mg/kg body weight. However,
during the oral administration period extending for 28 days, precautions should be taken due to the increase in urinary creatinine
level and decrease in spleen weight in the male rats given the highest dose (1000mg/kg) of extract. Conclusively, the extract of
Raphia vinifera is weakly toxic in rats and could be further used in the development of anticancer phytomedicines.
1. Introduction
Despite the numerous means to fight against cancer, the
number of deaths caused by this disease is increasing sig-
nificantly in many countries [1]. In 2018, WHO (World
Health Organization) recorded 9.6 million deaths and 18.1
million new cases because of cancer [2]. Due to morbidity
and mortality that it generates, cancer represents a major
health problem both nationally and globally. is pathology
becomes increasingly difficult to diagnose and to treat when
cancer cells develop resistance mechanisms against the usual
chemotherapeutic agents [3]. Regarding the increasing re-
sistance developed by these cells, research for alternative
treatments should be performed. e varieties of secondary
metabolites contained in medicinal plants are responsible for
the pharmacological effects including cytotoxic activity [4].
Raphia vinifera (Arecaceae) is a plant from the genus
Raphia; medicinal properties of different parts of the plants
have been demonstrated. Raffia wine from Raphia vinifera is
rich in lactic acid bacteria [5], which prevents the incidence
of diarrhea and promotes the course of the immune response
in rats; these probiotic isolates could strengthen the immune
system in children [6]. Also, many medicinal plants used in
Africa have shown interesting antiproliferative properties
against the sensitive and multi-drug-resistant (MDR) cancer
cells linked to their secondary metabolites [4, 7]. e boiled
Hindawi
Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Volume 2022, Article ID 4831261, 13 pages
https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/4831261