NTU Undergraduates' research April 2014 - Biosciences | Page 41

Abstract
Indian herbal extracts used for medical purposes have been the topic of
debate for many decades, going back to ayurvedic treatments centuries ago. One
notable extract, curcumin, derived from the turmeric root, has been shown in
numerous studies to have anti-cancer properties. In this study, cytotoxicity
assays were carried out on cancer cell cultures treated with Artabotrys
hexapetalus extract at different concentrations to assess its anti-cancer potential.
The study was inconclusive, but showed possible trends in some instances, and
called into question the viability of the LDH and MTT assays as cytotoxicity
assays in this setting, giving rise to ideas for improvement in researching this
area.