CYTOTOXIC POTENTIAL OF THE PREPARATIONS FROM SOLANUM-TRILOBATUM AND THE EFFECT OF SOBATUM ON TUMOR REDUCTION IN MICE

Plant Solanum trilobatum was washed, powdered and used for extraction. The lyophilized aqueous extracted portion was tested for in vitro cyt otoxicity by tissue culture technique using L929 and Vero cells. Petro leum ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate and ethanol were used for extrac tion and the extracted portions were subjected to in vitro tissue cult ure studies. It was shown that petroleum ether extract induced remarka ble cytotoxicity, when compared to all other extracts with an LD(50) o f 7.0 mu g in L929 and 5.8 mu g in Vero cells. Further fractionated po rtions of petroleum ether extract (by adsorption chromatography) under went tissue culture assay, and results suggest that petroleum ether/et hyl acetate (75:25) extractable portion is the most active fraction, n amed as sobatum, which induced an LD(50) of 7.0 mu g in L929 and 7.5 m u g in Vero cells. Sobatum significantly inhibit the peritoneal tumour s induced by Dalton's lymphoma ascites (DLA) and Ehrlich ascites (EA) tumour cell. The effect was more prominent when sobatum was administer ed orally as evidenced from the increased percentage of life span. Sob atum, the partially purified portion of Solanum trilobatum, was again fractionated by column chromatography and all the residues were concen trated and crystallized from methanol, giving only one pure crystallin e compound, that was identified as Beta-sitosterol by comparing with a uthentic sample.