Journal of Ethnopharmacology 123 (2009) 475–482 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Ethnopharmacology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jethpharm In vitro screening for anthelmintic and antitumour activity of ethnomedicinal plants from Thailand Korakot Atjanasuppat a , Weerah Wongkham a,∗ , Puttinan Meepowpan b , Prasat Kittakoop c , Prasert Sobhon d , Ann Bartlett e , Phil J. Whitfield e a Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand b Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand c Chulabhorn Research Institute, Vipavadee-Rangsit Highway, Bangkok 10210, Thailand d Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10400, Thailand e Department of Biochemistry, King’s College London, University of London, 150 Stamford St., London SE1 9NH, United Kingdom article info Article history: Received 26 May 2008 Received in revised form 4 March 2009 Accepted 11 March 2009 Available online 24 March 2009 Keywords: Anthelmintic activity Cytotoxicity Thai ethnomedicinal plants Inhibiting concentration Selectivity index abstract Aim of study: This study screened for anthelmintic and/or antitumour bioactive compounds from Thai indigenous plants and evaluated effectiveness against three different worm species and two cancer cell lines. Materials and methods: Methylene chloride and methanol extracts of 32 plant species were screened for in vitro anthelmintic activity against three species of worms, the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, the digeneans Paramphistomum epiclitum and Schistosoma mansoni (cercariae). Cytotoxicity of the extracts was evaluated against two cancer cell lines: human amelanotic melanoma (C32) and human cervical carcinoma (HeLa) by the SRB assay. Anthelmintic and anticancer activities were evaluated by the inhibiting concentration at 50% death (IC 50 ) and the selectivity index (SI) relative to human fibroblasts. Results and conclusions: None of the extracts were active against Paramphistomum epiclitum. Plumbagin, a pure compound from Plumbago indica, had the strongest activity against Caenorhabditis elegans. The methylene chloride extract of Piper chaba fruits had the strongest activity against schistosome cercariae. Strong cytotoxicity was shown by the methylene chloride extract of Michelia champaca bark and the methanol extract of Curcuma longa rhizome against C32 and HeLa, respectively. These extracts had higher SI (>100) than positive controls in relation to either the worms or the cell lines. The methanol extract of Bouea burmanica had a slightly lower activity towards C32 cells than did Michelia champaca but had a much higher SI (>27,000). Ethnopharmacological relevance: The plant species screened in this research was recorded by several indigenous medicinal practitioners as antiparasitic, anticancer and/or related activities to the human major organ system. © 2009 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. Abbreviations: C32, amelanotic melanoma cell line; DMEM, Dulbecco’s mod- ified Eagle’s medium; DMSO, dimethyl sulfoxide; ED66, 66% effective dose; FBS, fetal bovine serum; g, gram; HeLa, human cervical adenocarcinoma cell line; HL- 60, human promyelocytic leukemia cell line; Ho-8910, human ovarian cancer cell line; IC50, inhibiting concentration at 50% survival; IC52, inhibiting concentration at 52% survival; M, molar; MEM, minimum essential medium; ml, milliliter; mM, millimole; g, microgram; l, microliter; M, micromole; NGA, nematode growth agar; NLM, human normal fibroblast cell line; nm, nanometer; OD, optical density; SI, selective index; SSs, stock solutions; SRB, Sulphorhodamine B; TCA, trichloroacetic acid; WSs, working solutions. ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +66 53 94 3346x1103; fax: +66 53 89 2259. E-mail address: weerah@chiangmai.ac.th (W. Wongkham). 1. Introduction Helminthic parasite infections are global problems with serious social and economic repercussions in the Third World countries. The diseases affect the health status of a large fraction of the human population as well as animals (Bull et al., 2007). Some type of dangerous helminthic infections like filariasis has only a few therapeutic modalities at present (Bradley and Kumaraswami, 2004). Although anthelmintic drugs are effective for the treatment and control of many helminthic diseases, recent treatment failures have occurred apparently due to the development of genetic resis- tance in nematodes and schistosomes (Geerts and Gryseels, 2000; William et al., 2001). The continuous and long-term reliance on a small range of compounds has led to the development of drug resistance in many helminthic strains (Bull et al., 2007). In addi- 0378-8741/$ – see front matter © 2009 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jep.2009.03.010