Abstract

The utilization of medicinal plants to treat infectious disease is a common practice in developing countries worldwide. The present study was aimed at evaluating the crude extracts of Podophyllum hexandrum with different chemicals for anticancer and antibacterial potential. The results revealed that the methanol fractions of P. hexandrum showed significant cytotoxic potential against MCF-7 with lowest %IC50 of 41±1.79 than other extracts used in this study. Furthermore, crude extracts were also analyzed for antibacterial potential against six multi drug resistant (MDR) pathogens by disc diffusion method. The n-hexane extract showed good inhibitory effect against all the tested strains except S. typhi. Its highest activity was observed against E. coli with zone of inhibition of 22±1.25 (MIC=25𝜇g/mL). Methanol and ethanol extract also depicted inhibitory potential for most of the tested bacterial strains. In summary, P. hexandrum extracts possess antibacterial and anticancer activities, suggested to be a strong pharmaceutical agent.

Keywords: Mcf-7; Podophyllum hexandrum; Antibacterial; Medicinal plants; Cytotoxic