Cytotoxic effects of plant extracts from the families Fabaceae, Oleaceae, Philadelphaceae, Rosaceae and Staphyleaceae.

A human transformed line of HeLa cells was treated with extracts prepared from Gymnocladus dioicus, Holodiscus discolor, Stephanandra tanakae, Ligustrum delavayanum, Ligustrum vulgare and Staphylea pinnata. The study evaluating the influence of the active extracts on HeLa cell division also reveals their acute, delayed and combined effect. A 35% degradation of HeLa cells was found after 72 h treatment with 62.5 microg/mL of the extract isolated from Stephanandra tanakae. A 100% lysis of HeLa cells was observed after 72 h treatment with a 125 microg/mL concentration of the extract prepared from Gymnocladus dioicus. The extracts from Ligustrum devayanum and Ligustrum vulgare were specifically effective only with HeLa cells. On the other hand, the extract prepared from Gymnocladus dioicus was effective on the bacteria and on the HeLa cells. Copyright 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.