Int. J. Pharm. Sci. Rev. Res., 38(1), May – June 2016; Article No. 04, Pages: 18-21 ISSN 0976 – 044X International Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences Review and Research Available online at www.globalresearchonline.net © Copyright protected. Unauthorised republication, reproduction, distribution, dissemination and copying of this document in whole or in part is strictly prohibited. 18 Bhavita Dhru* , Dhara Bhatt, Khushboo Jethva, M aitreyi Zaveri Dept of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry, K.B. Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Sector-23, GH-6, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India. * Corresponding author’s E-mail: dhru1909@gmail.com Accepted on: 10-03-2016; Finalized on: 30-04-2016. ABSTRACT The use of medicinal plants for the treatment of various diseases is as old as human civilization and has obtained a worldwide significance in the primary healthcare system. Inspite of their structural complexicity and many unknown chemical constituents, they have been frequently prescribed because of their use and efficacy, contributing to the disclosure of their therapeutic properties. Oroxylum indicum, commonly known as Syonakh (tetu), belongs to the family Bignoniaceae. It is used as an astringent, carminative, diuretic, stomachic, aphrodisiac and has high potential for stimulating digestion, curing fevers, coughs and preventing other respiratory disorders. The present study has been conducted to evaluate the anticancer potential of different fractions of root bark of Oroxylum indicum. The different fractions were tested for their cytotoxicity using the brine shrimp lethality assay, and MTT assay using MCF7 breast cancer cell line. The chloroform, ethylacetate and n-butanol fraction showed lethality in the brine shrimps. The n-butanol fraction of Oroxylum indicum showed the highest toxicity on MCF7 cell line, with 70.41% inhibition in the MTT assay. In conclusion, amongst all the tested fractions, the n-butanol fraction of the root bark of Oroxylum indicum, might be considered as potential source of anticancer compounds. Further studies are necessary for chemical characterization of the active principles and more extensive biological evaluations. Keywords: Oroxylum indicum, M CF7 breast cancer cell, M TT assay. INTRODUCTION ancer is the excess cell proliferation, which cannot be completely abolished by chemotherapy. One of the most common cancers amongst women is breast cancer and its metastatic malignancy is being a major cause of mortality since years. The chemotherapeutic agents are not only toxic for tumour cells but also for normal cells and thus rating cancer as a fatal disease due to lack of availability of effective drugs. Moreover, the chemotherapeutic agents are highly expensive, mutagenic, carcinogenic and teratogenic in nature. Resistance to most of the available anticancer agents such as anthracyclines and taxanes, and its increasing incidence are the foremost obstacle in current breast cancer therapy. Therefore, researchers are giving efforts to find out the suitable anti-cancer drug of plant origin which ultimately might be useful in the treatment of cancer 1 . In the recent years medicinal plants have received a considerable attention in the recent years as potential chemotherapeutic agents 2 . More than 150 000 plant species have been studied; many of them containing therapeutic substances are being used since ages 3 . Majority of the population in third world countries relies almost exclusively on plant products for their primary health care (M ans) 4 . The metabolites possessing anticancer properties, such as flavonoids, terpenoids, alkaloids and phenylpropanoids were isolated from natural sources 5, 6 . The cytotoxic phytochemicals such as vinca alkaloids or paclitaxel (Taxol) from the natural sources are often used in cancer. They serve as model for synthetic compounds 7,8 . Such drugs as these have been customarily isolated as single plant extracts or fractions, thereof or have been mixtures of fractions/extracts from different plants and used subsequent to their evaluation of safety and efficacy in model systems and humans 9 . Various in vitro and in vivo experiments have demonstrated that most of the phytochemicals act by interfering with several cell signaling pathways and lead to cell cycle arrest and/or differentiation induction (Chathoth) apart from their apoptosis-inducing potential and cyto-toxic potential 10 . Oroxylum indicum (L.) Vent. (also known as Shivnak, Sonapatha, Shyonaka or Midnight horror) is a deciduous tree belonging to Bignoniaceae family characterized with few branches. It has been used in Ayurveda and other traditional health systems since centuries back 11 . It is a member of the well-known ‘Dasamula’ group, an ingredient of several important Ayurvedic formulations used to treat various ailments. Every part of this plant has medicinal property. The root of Shyonaka is an astringent, bitter tonic, stomachic, anodyne, anti-inflammatory and expectorant. It stimulates digestion, cures fever, cough and other respiratory disorders and is useful in diarrhoea, dysentery, abdominal pain, thirst, vomiting, anorexia, rheumatism, worms, leprosy and other skin diseases, oedema and urinogenital disorders 12 . The leaves are useful in stomachalgia, flatulence, ulcers and also splenomegaly. The tender fruit is also reported for In vitro Cytotoxicity Studies of the Anti-Cancer Potential of Fractions of Root Bark of Oroxylum Indicum in Human Breast Carcinoma Cells C Research Article