Available Online at www.jbpr.in Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Research, Volume 3, Issue 4, 2014, 63-69 *Corresponding author: Dr. Ming Thong ONG |E-mail: omt@usm.my Page63 Page63 Page63 Page63 RESEARCH ARTICLE ISSN: 2279 - 0594 BRINE SHRIMP LETHALITY TEST AND ANTI-PROLIFERATION TEST AGAINST HUMAN CANCER- ORIGIN CELL LINES USING ETHANOLIC AND WATER EXTRACTS OF SELAGINELLADOEDERLEINII HIERON J.T. Priscilla 1 , S. Geethaa 1 , S. Sreeramanan 2 , M.T. Ong 1* 1 Institute for Research in Molecular Medicine (INFORMM), Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 USM, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia. 2 School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 USM, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia. Received 15 July 2014; Accepted 26 August 2014 INTRODUCTION: Medicinal plants form a rich source of novel drugs that forms the ingredients in traditional systems of medicine, modern medicines, nutraceuticals, food supplements, folk medicines, pharmaceutical intermediates, bioactive principles and lead compounds in synthetic drugs [1] . In Malaysia, the practice of traditional medicine is common among various ethnic groups such as the Malays, Chinese, Indians and aborigines with the knowledge being passed down through the generations. The practice relies on the use of medicinal plants, properties of which are mainly known via traditional knowhow and/or empirical observations. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 80 % of people still rely on plant- based traditional medicines for primary health care globally. It is therefore crucial to scientifically evaluate and validate the properties of medicinal plants as reported in traditional use. Selaginella doederleinii HIERON has been reported to be a medicinal plant, but has not been widely used, either traditionally or in modern medicine. Its role in medicinal use is yet to be determined. The genus Selaginella is composed of about 700 species and belongs to the kingdom of Plantae, the family of Selaginellaceae. They belong to a group of lycopods, whose members go by common names of ground pines and club mosses. Selaginella doederleinii HIERON is a well-known perennial pteridophyte plant growing in South and Southwestern China at low altitude [2] , and it has been used in traditional Chinese medicine [3] . Selaginella can be found in pharmacopoeia Asia, Africa, Latin America, but is not found in Europe and North America [4] . This is due to the habitat conditions of the plant. Humid conditions with higher rain fall and level of a relatively higher slope supports the life of this plant. The local name of Selaginella in Malaysia is cakar ayam, name given by referring to the leaf shape that resembles the scales on a chicken leg on either side of the stem [5] . Selaginella has many other local names, such as rumput solo, cemara kipas gunung (Java), paku rane (Sunda) and shi shang bai (石上柏 ) or juan bai (卷柏) (Chinese). ABSTRACT Most of the properties of herbal products claimed in traditional use are based on traditional knowhow and/or empirical observations. Support from scientific evaluation and validation is thus crucial. Selaginella doederleinii HIERON is a member from the family of Selaginellaceae, a perennial, fern-like plant, and spike moss. It is known in traditional medicine to be useful to treat many diseases. However, proper scientific experimental results have not been reported thus far. The present study was conducted with the objectives of evaluating the phytochemical compositions, antimicrobial activities, and toxicity of the plant extracts. Qualitative phytochemical analysis on ethanolic (SDE) and water extracts (SDW) revealed the presence of saponins, tannins and cardiac glycosides in the extracts. The 50% lethal concentration (LC 50 ) in brine shrimp lethality test (BSLT) using SDE and SDW after 24 hours of exposure was found to be >1000µg/ml. Strong antimicrobial activity was observed against Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilus. Cancer-origin cell lines MDA-MB231 and HepG2 were found to be the most susceptible, among other tested cell lines, with the treatments of SDE (LC 50 =306 µg/ml) and SDW (LC 50 = 329 µg/ml) respectively. Amelioration with further subfractionation would increase the specific antiproliferation activities of these subfractions. Key words: Selaginella doederleinii, Brine shrimp, Anti-proliferative