Inhibitory Effect on Cell Growth and Cytotoxicity of Kouchner Plant (Alpinia galanga L) Extract on Squamous Cell Carcinoma Cell Line in vitro: A Case-control Study

Abstract

Introduction: Malignancy is the main cause of death in developed countries and the second leading cause of death in developing countries. The aim of the present study was to carry out an investigation of inhibitory and cytotoxic effect of Kouchner (Alpinia galanga L) extract on cell growth with a potential of selective effect on malignant cells of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) compared with normal cells. Materials and methods: In this in vitro study, in order to assess the cytotoxicity of the extract, a photometry method using the microculture tetrazolium test (MTT) was used. All stages were repeated three times on normal and malignant cell lines. A two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to investigate the effect of extract concentration on the percentage of viable cells among different cell types. To evaluate the effect of the extract concentration on the percentage of viable cells, one-way and two-way ANOVA were used for each cell line (alpha = 0.05). Results: The results showed that the percentage of viable cells is significantly correlated with different concentrations of Kouchner (A. galanga L) extract (p > 0.001) and is significantly correlated with the type of cell in the extract concentrations above 20 (p = 0.023). However, there is no significant relationship on the extract concentrations below 20 (p = 0.123). Conclusion: The results of this study showed that cytotoxicity of the Kouchner extract at concentrations above 20 on malignant cell line (SCC) has been higher than normal cell lines, and, in concentrations below 20, they are similar. According to this study, the Kouchner extract may be used as a natural substance with targeted antimalignancy properties and with less side effects against SCC.