1Postgraduate Student, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universitas Andalas, Padang, 25163, Indonesia
2Indonesian Food and Drug Administration (BPOM), Jakarta, 10560, Indonesia
3Faculty of Pharmacy, Universitas Andalas, Padang, 25163, Indonesia
4Department of Forestry, West Sumatra Province, Padang, 25114, Indonesia
5Faculty of Pharmacy, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, 50603, Malaysia
*Corresponding Author E-mail: desi.eka@pom.go.id
**dachriyanus@phar.unand.ac.id
***yozarwardi.usama1234@gmail.com
*****najihahmh@um.edu.my
Taxus sumatrana (Miq.) de Laub. has a long history of use in traditional medicine across various regions of Indonesia for treating conditions related to cancer. However, scientific evidence supporting its efficacy and safety remains limited. Previous studies have reported that ethanol extracts of the bark, leaves, and shoots of T. sumatrana demonstrate significant cytotoxic effects on different cancer cell lines. Nevertheless, the selectivity of these extracts toward cancer cells compared to normal cells has not been established. This study focused on assessing and comparing the selectivity index (SI) of ethanol extracts derived from the bark, leaves, and shoots of T. sumatrana against breast cancer (T47D, MCF-7/HER-2) and cervical cancer cell lines (HeLa), using Vero cells as a normal cell model. The cytotoxic activity of each extract was evaluated using the MTT assay. IC50 values were calculated for both cancerous and normal cell lines, and the SI was determined by dividing the IC50 value in Vero cells by that in each cancer cell line. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was employed to quantify the paclitaxel content in each extract. All three extracts demonstrated cytotoxic effects on cancer cells and lower toxicity toward Vero cells, with SI values exceeding 1. The shoot extract exhibited the highest SI in T47D cells (21.92), followed by the leaf extract in T47D cells (17.67) and in HeLa cells (13.53). The bark extract showed the highest paclitaxel content, while the shoot and leaf extracts contained lower levels. These findings indicate that all T. sumatrana extracts exhibited favorable selectivity toward the tested breast and cervical cancer cell lines in vitro, with the shoot and leaf extracts yielding the highest SI values. Further studies are needed to isolate the active compounds responsible for this activity, elucidate their mechanisms of action, and evaluate their safety and efficacy using in vivo models.
Cemara Sumatra, Cytotoxicity, Vero cells, Natural products, Paclitaxel
