European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

STUDY OF THE ANTI-PROLIFERATIVE ACTIVITY OF STEROIDAL SAPONIN, DIOSCIN ISOLATED FROM THE RHIZOME OF COSTUS SPECIOSUS (INSULIN PLANT)

Ajoy K. Bauri*, Ines Castro Dionicio, Eric Salinas Arellano and Esperanza J. Carcache de Blanco*

ABSTRACT

Costus speciosus (family: Costaceae) is an Indian medicinal plant used in Ayurved as folklore medicine to cure various kinds of diseases, including diabetes, cancer and kidney problems. Chemical profiling of its methanol extract revealed the presence of a steroidal saponin in the form of glycoside as major constituent in its rhizome. Structural determination of this steroidal saponinglycoside has completedby chemical, spectral, and spectrometric methods. Biological evaluation of this compound has been conducted on different human cancer cell linesby using SRB assayin comparison with paclitaxel as control. Bioassay result exhibited significant activity against different cancer cell lines such as urinary bladder (HT-1376), pancreatic (HPAC-1376), prostate (DU-145), colon (HT-29) and thyroid (MDA-T32) cancer cells with IC50 values 9.47±2.0, 8.32±1.3, 13.85±1.3, 6.10±0.6, 6.86±0.6μg/mL respectively.

Keywords: Costus speciosus; rhizome; isolation & characterization; steroidal saponin; anti-proliferative activity; SRB assay.