Therapeutic potential of Acalypha fruticosa.

Prevention of various diseases using natural compounds has been of interest for many decades. Floral diversity has been widely investigated for possible protective and preventive properties, and various plant-based medicines have been introduced in the recent times. Antioxidant potential, cytotoxicity and DNA cleavage protective properties of methanolic and aqueous extracts of Acalypha fruticosa Forssk were evaluated in this study. The amount of total phenolics was determined by a spectrophotometric method. Ferric reducing antioxidant property (FRAP) assay, radical scavenging assays (DPPH() and ()OH) and thiobarbituric acid (TBA) assay for testing inhibition of lipid peroxidation were employed to determine antioxidant property of the extracts. Furthermore, cytotoxicity of both extracts was tested by XTT assay in MDA-MB-435S (human breast carcinoma cell line) and Hep3B (human hepatocellular carcinoma). DNA protective efficiency of the extracts was also studied using UV-photolysed H(2)O(2)-driven oxidative damage to pBR322. Both extracts exhibited promising antioxidant potentials and marginal cytotoxicity to the tested cell lines. Simultaneously, the extracts showed considerably high DNA-protection against photolysed H(2)O(2)-induced oxidative damage in pBR322. The study concluded that A. fruticosa holds colossal and diverse therapeutic potentials which might be useful in development of drugs or their precursors, thereby holding immense clinical prospect. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.