Objectives:

To determine the in vitro cytotoxic and genotoxic effect of the crude and ethanolic extract from the Curcuma longa L. rhizome.

Materials and methods:

The cytotoxic effect was evaluated using DU-145, HT-29, 3T3 BALB/c cell lines. The growth percentages in 48 hours; and the half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) were determined. The genotoxic effect on human genomic DNA was determined using the Tomasevich method.

Results:

Crude extract produced an IC50 of 12.98 ± 0.21 μg/mL for the HT-29 tumor cell line, which is lower than the value obtained for DU-145, with an IC50 of 36.77 ± 9.12 μg/mL. The ethanolic extract presented an IC50 of 13.24 ± 0.77 and 20.54 ± 2.58 μg/mL for both cell lines, respectively; the curcumin standard compound presented an IC50 of 3.96 ± 0.60 and 13.94 ± 2.79 μg/mL, respectively. Crude extract concentrations of 50 and 100 mg/mL fragmented between 40% to 95% of human genomic DNA; while at 200 mg/mL, fragmentation was greater than 95%. The ethanolic extract at all concentrations did not fragment the DNA. Curcumin at 200 mg/mL fragmented less than 5% of human genomic DNA.

Conclusions:

The crude and ethanolic extracts of Curcuma longa L. demonstrate different in vitro cytotoxic effects for the human tumor cell lines DU-145 and HT-29; similar to the standard curcumin compound. The crude extract of Curcuma longa L. shows a potent genotoxic in vitro activity against human genomic DNA; this type of effect is not produced by the ethanolic extract.

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