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INTRODUCTION
Heart diseases, diabetes, malignant neoplasm and cancer are one of the leading
causes of death in the Philippines (Department of Health, 2019). Patients with low socio-
economic status tend to neglect such diseases due to expensive disease management and
treatment in the Philippines thus, relying on herbal remedies instead of paying expensive
hospital fees. More Filipinos tend to rely on natural products as prevention to various kinds
important to discover new biologic agents that are less toxic for normal cells that possess
potential antiproliferative effects on cancer cells. Screening active compounds from plants,
leads to the discovery of new medicinal drugs that are promising for the treatment of
and during the last years, the interest for the use of natural products has significantly
species, as well as to the induction of intracellular antioxidant effect (Zhang et al., 2015).
Antioxidant phytochemicals play a key role in oxidative stress control and in the prevention
of related disorders, such as premature aging, degenerative diseases, diabetes, and cancer
Cytotoxicity and Antioxidant 2
(Faraone, Rai, & Chiummiento et al., 2018). Recent studies also show that phytochemicals
Zolfaghari, 2017)
plant usually found in forests. Often neglected by locals because of its unknown use but
several sources claim that it does have medicinal applications. It is believed that its plant
parts are used to cure skin diseases. Literature review and studies are yet to be examined
and almost none is known on its phytochemical properties and potential therapeutic use,
thus the researchers aim to identify its phytochemical components, to evaluate the cytotoxic
Materials
The materials used in this study were 500g Myristica simiarum leaves, DPPH
powder, Brine Shrimp eggs, Ascorbic Acid Standard, Hydrochloric acid, Mayer’s reagent,
5% FeCl, 2N NaOH, 10% FeCl, Distilled Water, HNO3, Ninhydrin Reagent, Sulphuric
Tools
Evaporator, Test tubes, 100mL volumetric flask, 50mL volumetric flask, micropipette,
General Procedure
The plant samples were washed thoroughly to remove extraneous matter. The
plants were dried using the method described by Romero-Buenavides et al. (2018). Briefly,
the collected leaves were subjected to a dehydration process in a drying tray with
of the plant sample were decanted while the plant residue Figure 2. Rotary Evaporation
Photo taken by the Researcher
vacuum using rotary evaporator at a temperature below 50 o C. The extracts were stored in
Cytotoxicity and Antioxidant 4
wide mouth container and kept refrigerated until the actual biological assay. The extracted
sample produced a solid paste, it was isolated and placed in a sterile container
Phytochemical Screening
formation of dark blue or greenish black color indicates the presence of tannins.
and shaken manually for 15 minutes. Formation of 1 cm layer of foam indicates presence
of saponins.
2mL distilled water followed by few drops of 10% ferric chloride was added to 1
Xanthoproteic Test
2 mL of plant extract and 0.5 mL of concentrated nitric acid were added by the side
of the test tube. Presence of a dark yellow colour indicates the presence of proteins and
amino acids.
Ninhydrin Test
A few drops of Ninhydrin reagent was added to the plant extract. The formation of
Molisch’s Test
Molisch’s reagent was prepared. 2 drops of the reagent was added to the plant
extract. To this solution, 1 mL of concentrated sulphuric acid was added to the side of the
inclined test tube. Reddish violet ring at the junction of the two layers indicates the presence
of sugars.
Barfoed’s Test
actetate in 200mL of 1% acetic solution. The plant extract was dissolved in distilled water
and heated with the reagent. A red color precipitate indicates the presence of
monosaccharides.
Cytotoxicity and Antioxidant 6
There will be four (4) concentrations as treatments for the Brine Shrimp Lethality
mL of plant extract; Treatment C – 100 µg/ mL of plant extract; and Treatment D – 1000
µg/ mL of plant extract. There will be four (4) treatments for DPPH radical scavenging
extract
eggs. The seawater was placed in a small plastic container with a partition for dark and
light areas. Shrimp eggs were added into the dark side of the chamber while a light source
above the other side will attract the hatched shrimp. Two days were allowed for the shrimp
to hatch and mature as nauplii (larva). After two days, when the shrimp larvae were ready,
4 mL of the artificial seawater was added to each test tube and 10 brine shrimps were
introduced into each tube. Thus, there were a total of 30 shrimps per concentration. Then
the volume was adjusted with artificial seawater up to 5 mL per test tube. The test tubes
Cytotoxicity and Antioxidant 7
were left uncovered under the lamp. The number of surviving shrimps were counted using
a magnifying glass and recorded after 24 hours. A brine shrimp was considered dead if it
is immotile and settles at the bottom of the test tube. The percentage mortality was
This is to ensure that the death (mortality) of the nauplii is attributed to the bioactive
Using probit analysis, the lethality concentration (LC50) was assessed at 95%
confidence intervals. LC50 of less than 100 µg/mL was considered as potent. LC50 value
of less than 1000 µg/mL is toxic while LC50 value of greater than 1000 µg/mL is non-
toxic.
C1 V1 =C2 V2
solution needed; C2= Final Concentration (Treatment); V2 = Final Volume of the solution.
Cytotoxicity and Antioxidant 8
The 0.00394 grams of DPPH was dissolved in 10 mL 95% ethanol. The 1 mL from
stock solution was measured and added to ethanol to come up with 10 mL solution.
DPPH Assay
The 0.1 mmol/L solution of DPPH in ethanol was prepared and 1mL of this solution
spectrophotometer.
activity of the plant extracts. The percentage inhibition activity was calculated from:
A0 - A1
% inhibition= × 10
A0
Where A0 is the absorbance of the control (DPPH), and A1 is the absorbance of the
extract/ standard. Median inhibitory concentration (IC50) value was calculated from the
inhibiting a specific biological or biochemical function, in this assay – the free radical
scavenging activity. The average IC50 (7.65 ug/mL) lies between TA (5ug/mL) and TB
(10ug/mL) of the positive control. This means that the standard - ascorbic acid’s highest
antioxidant potency was found in between the two treatments. In other words, the positive
control is most effective when 7.65 ug/mL dosage was used. This explains why the results
of this study was compared only to 5ug/mL and 10ug/mL ascorbic acid.
Data Gathering
computed and the corresponding LC50 and lC50 values of the bioassays.
Tools used were washed with a commercial disinfectant and some were disposed
Statistical analysis
The data were analyzed on Statistical Tool for Agricultural Research (STAR)
released by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). One-way ANOVA was used
RESULTS
Results show that the phytochemicals present are Tannins, Flavonoids, Phenols,
Proteins and Amino Acids. While Alkaloids and Saponins are absent. Phytochemical
Alkaloids - -
Tannins + +
Saponins - -
Flavonoids + +
Phenols + +
+ +
Barfoed’s Test (Monosaccharides)
( + ) Indicates Presences; ( - ) Indicates Absence
Cytotoxicity and Antioxidant 11
Table 2 shows the percent lethality of the different concetrations Myristica simiarum
Leaves Extract against Brine Shrimp. The percentage mortality was affected by the
simiarum leaves extract. The LSD further revealed that Treatment D (1000 ug/mL) got the
highest percent mortality having 96.67%, followed by Treatment C (100 ug/mL), and
Treatment B (100 ug/mL) with 76.67% and 56.67% respectively. While Treatment A (1
simiarum leaves extract when DPPH assay is used. The percentage inhibited was affected
simiarum leaves extract. LSD further revealed that Treatment D (50 µg/mL) got the highest
percentage inhibited having 86.79%, followed by Treatment C (25 µg/mL) with 65.81%
and Treatment A (5 µg/mL) got the least percentage inhibited which is 18.00%. However,
there is no significant difference among Treatment B (10 µg/mL) and Positive controls: 5
µg/mL and 10 µg/mL with percent inhibitions 45.93%, 42.09%, and 53.33% respectively.
DISCUSSION
The results of the present study can be attributed to the phytochemical analysis
conducted where Myristica simiarum leaves were found to contain tannins, flavonoids, and
phenols. This also conformed to the study of Umesh (2014), the health benefit results from
the secondary metabolites synthesized in the plant that includes the bioactive constituents
The cytotoxic activity of Myristica simiarum leaves were measured using Brine
Shrimp Lethality Assay (BSLA). Results show that there is a significant difference among
the varying concentrations of Myristica simiarum leaves. The highest percent lethality was
observed in treatment D (1000 µg/mL) which is the highest concentration. The median
lethal concentration (LC50) computed was found to be less than 1000 µg/mL. Which
means that the plant extracts are toxic against experimental organisms.
The antioxidant activity was measured using DPPH radical scavenging assay.
Results show that there is a significant difference among the treatments. The highest
percent inhibition of the DPPH free radical was observed in treatment D (50 µg/mL), which
positive controls which means that the plant extract is most effective at 10 µg/mL. Very
et al., 2010). The mechanism of tannins in biological samples inhibit proliferation of cancer
cells and inducing apoptotic activity against various human carcinomas (Yildrim & Cutlu,
2015). This explains the cytotoxicity induced by Myristica simiarum leaves against brine
Cytotoxicity and Antioxidant 14
shrimp. Also, tannins exhibit antioxidant activity by donating electrons to DPPH free
radicals with the same mechanism as to other plant secondary metabolites according to
Ujwala et al. (2014). Because of the anticarcinogenic and antioxidant properties of tannins,
it may be the influence of tannins present in Myristica simiarum leaves to exhibit cytoxicity
against experimental organisms and antioxidative effect on the DPPH free radical.
plants that accounts for their ability to prevent cancer and tumor growth (Ren et al., 2003).
According to Ren (2003), flavonoids can be promising anticancer agents. Briefly, many
mechanisms. Research studies have shown that flavonoids as single electron donors can
stabilize and scavenge the free radicals (Chung, 2006). This implies that the presence of
flavonoids in Myristica simiarum leaves exhibit cytotoxic activities against brine shrimp
Phenols. Plant phenolics and extracts are able to affect cell signaling associated
a thorough and systematic study of the variables that define their chemical reactivities and
subsequent biological activities (Selassie et al., 2005). Phenolic compounds which possess
donation, via a free-radical attack on the DPPH molecule and converting them to a
Cytotoxicity and Antioxidant 15
in decrease in the absorbance at 517 nm. (Mathew et al., 2015). Additionally, phenolic
compounds found in plant extracts exhibit cytotoxicity against experimental organisms like
brine shrimp and human cancer cell lines as studied by Firdaus et al. (2013). The phenolics
found in Myristica simiarum leaves exhibit cell death on brine shrimp as experimental
The cytotoxicity of plant extracts can be related to the antioxidant activity and
tests, substituting animals with alternative models is very important. Brine Shrimp
Lethality Assay is a convenient system for monitoring biological activities of various plant
species (Hamidi et al., 2014). Various studies showed that phytochemicals tannins,
flavonoids, and phenols induce cytotoxicity against brine shrimp and human cancer cell.
mechanism delays or prevents free radicals formation and thereby suppresses the life-
threatening diseases. Besides, it can prevent cancer progression by maintaining normal cell
cycle regulation, inhibiting cell proliferation and inducing apoptosis. Numerous plants and
their active compounds are reported to possess the antioxidant activity which controls
many disease conditions. Therefore, natural antioxidant compounds have been investigated
The cytotoxic activity was computed with median lethal concentration (LC50). The
LC50 (94 g/mL) computed is lower than 1000 g/mL. This indicates effective toxicity
against experimental organisms according to Olowa et al. (2013). The biochemical half
maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) is the most commonly used metric for on-target
Cytotoxicity and Antioxidant 16
activity in lead optimization. The low IC50 (19.47 g/mL) displayed indicates effective
The presence of these secondary metabolites and computed LC50 and IC50 values
accounts for the potent cytotoxicity and antioxidant activity of the Myristica simiarum
leaves. Therefore, Myristica simiarum leaves may exhibit toxicity against actual human
cancer cell lines and can be potentially used as a natural antioxidant supplement.
CONCLUSIONS
RECOMMENDATIONS
2. To utilize treatment D (1000 µg/mL) of the Myristica simiarum leaves against actual
4. To further confirm the antioxidant activity of Myristica simiarum leaves using different
antioxidant assays.
REFERENCES
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Flavonoid Buni Fruit (Antidesma bunius (L.) Spreng) with UV-Vis
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Cytotoxic Evaluation of Euphorbia turcomanica on Hela and HT-29 Tumor Cell
Lines. Advanced biomedical research, 6, 68. doi:10.4103/2277-9175.192734
Chandra, S. R., Diwan, A. D., & Panche, A. N. (2016). Flavonoids: an overview. Journal
of nutritional science, 5. Retrieved from
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28620474
Faraone, I., Rai, D. K., Chiummiento, L., Fernandez, E., Choudhary, A., Prinzo, F., &
Milella, L. (2018). Antioxidant Activity and Phytochemical Characterization of
Senecio clivicolus Wedd. Molecules (Basel, Switzerland), 23(10), 2497.
doi:10.3390/molecules23102497
Lee, M. T., Lin, W. C., Yu, B., & Lee, T. T. (2017). Antioxidant capacity of
phytochemicals and their potential effects on oxidative status in animals - A review.
Asian-Australasian journal of animal sciences, 30(3), 299–308.
doi:10.5713/ajas.16.0438
Meyer B.N., Ferrigni N.R., Putnam J.E., Jacobsen L.B., Nichols D.E., and McLaughlin
J.L. (1982). Brine shrimp: A convenient general bioassay for active plant
constituents. Plant Med, 45, 31-34
Olowa, L. F. & Nuneza, O. M. (2013). Brine Shrimp Lethality Assay of the Ethanolic
Extracts of Three Selected Species of Medicinal Plants from Iligan City,
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ISSN 2278-3202
Cytotoxicity and Antioxidant 19
Padmapriya, R., Ashwini, S., & Raveendran, R. (2017). In vitro antioxidant and cytotoxic
potential of different parts of Tephrosia purpurea. Research in pharmaceutical
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Sahaa, M. R. , Hasana, S. M. R., Aktera, R. , Hossaina, M. M., Alam, M. S., Alam, M. A.,
and Mazumder, M. E. H. (2008). In Vitro Free Radical Scavenging Activity of
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Selassie, C. D., Sanjay K., Verma, R. P., & Rasario, M. (2005). Cellular Apoptosis and
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Toul, F., Benhammou, N., Zitouni, A., Ghembaza, N., Bekkara, F. (2016). In-Vitro
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Cytotoxicity and Antioxidant 20
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The researchers would like to express their heartfelt gratitude towards the pillars
To Mrs. Ma. Rita F. Villareal, Principal IV of Capiz National High School, for
To Dr. Stephen G. Sabinay, Research Consultant, for his time and effort in helping
To Mrs. Florie May C. Castro, for her technical input, support, encouragement and
To Ms. Shella Maria B. Luda, Class Adviser, for her never-ending support and
motivation;
To the researchers’ parents, relatives and friends, for their moral, emotional and
Above everything else, greatest thanks to the Lord God Almighty for the strength
The Researchers
Cytotoxicity and Antioxidant 21
Appendices
Cytotoxicity and Antioxidant 22
Appendix
Appendices A
Raw Data and Statistical Analyses
Cytotoxicity and Antioxidant 23
Raw Data
Table 4. Number of Brine Shrimp Dead after 24 hours of exposure to the different
concentrations M. simiarum Leaves extract
Number of A. salina Dead
Concentration
R1 R2 R3 Mean
1 µg/mL 0 2 1 1.0
10 µg/mL 5 6 6 5.7
Table 5. Percent Lethality of Brine Shrimp after 24 hours of exposure to the different
concentrations of M. simiarum Leaves Extract
Percent Lethality (%)
Concentration Mean LC50
R1 R2 R3 (µg/mL)
1 µg/mL 0 20 10 10.0
10 µg/mL 50 60 60 56.7
94.39
100 µg/mL 80 70 80 76.7
100.00000
80.00000
y = 0.0545x + 44.856
R² = 0.5046
60.00000
40.00000
20.00000
0.00000
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000
Concentration 1 2 3
Ascorbic Acid
Concentrations 1 2 3
y = 1.3577x + 23.559
R² = 0.8764
100
y = 1.1279x + 41.368
R² = 0.8738
80
Mean % Inhibition
Mean % Inhibition
(Tanghas)
60 Mean % Inhibition
(Control)
Linear (Mean %
Inhibition (Tanghas))
Linear (Mean %
40
Inhibition (Control))
20
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Concentrations (ug/mL)
Statistical Analyses
Analysis of Variance
Completely Randomized Design
=================================================
ANALYSIS FOR RESPONSE VARIABLE: X..Lethality
=================================================
Summary Information
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
---
FACTOR NO. OF LEVELS LEVELS
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
---
Concentration 4 1 æg/mL, 10 æg/mL, 100 æg/mL, 1000
æg/mL
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
---
Number of Observations Read and Used: 12
ANOVA TABLE
Response Variable: X..Lethality
----------------------------------------------------------------
Source DF Sum of Square Mean Square F Value Pr(> F)
----------------------------------------------------------------
Concentration 3 12400.0000 4133.3333 82.67 0.0000
Error 8 400.0000 50.0000
Total 11 12800.0000
----------------------------------------------------------------
Summary Statistics
---------------------------
CV(%) X..Lethality Mean
---------------------------
11.79 60
---------------------------
Standard Errors
------------------------
Effects StdErr
------------------------
Concentration 5.77
------------------------
Alpha 0.01
Error Degrees of Freedom 8
Error Mean Square 50.0000
Critical Value 3.3554
Test Statistics 19.3723
Analysis of Variance
Completely Randomized Design
==================================================
ANALYSIS FOR RESPONSE VARIABLE: X..Inhibition
==================================================
Summary Information
----------------------------------------------------
FACTOR NO. OF LEVELS LEVELS
----------------------------------------------------
Concentration 6 C10, C25, ..., PC5
----------------------------------------------------
Number of Observations Read and Used: 18
ANOVA TABLE
Response Variable: X..Inhibition
----------------------------------------------------------------
Source DF Sum of Square Mean Square F Value Pr(> F)
----------------------------------------------------------------
Concentration 5 8026.7191 1605.3438 147.67 0.0000
Error 12 130.4529 10.8711
Total 17 8157.1720
----------------------------------------------------------------
Summary Statistics
----------------------------
CV(%) X..Inhibition Mean
----------------------------
6.32 52.14
----------------------------
Cytotoxicity and Antioxidant 29
Standard Errors
------------------------
Effects StdErr
------------------------
Concentration 2.69
------------------------
Alpha 0.01
Error Degrees of Freedom 12
Error Mean Square 10.8711
Critical Value 6.1011
Test Statistics 11.6141
Analysis of Variance
Completely Randomized Design
==================================================
ANALYSIS FOR RESPONSE VARIABLE: X..Inhibition
==================================================
Summary Information
---------------------------------------------------
FACTOR NO. OF LEVELS LEVELS
---------------------------------------------------
Concentration 4 C10, C25, C5, C50
---------------------------------------------------
Number of Observations Read and Used: 12
ANOVA TABLE
Response Variable: X..Inhibition
----------------------------------------------------------------
Source DF Sum of Square Mean Square F Value Pr(> F)
Cytotoxicity and Antioxidant 30
----------------------------------------------------------------
Concentration 3 4836.2005 1612.0668 154.17 0.0000
Error 8 83.6489 10.4561
Total 11 4919.8494
----------------------------------------------------------------
Summary Statistics
----------------------------
CV(%) X..Inhibition Mean
----------------------------
4.78 67.58
----------------------------
Standard Errors
------------------------
Effects StdErr
------------------------
Concentration 2.64
------------------------
Alpha 0.01
Error Degrees of Freedom 8
Error Mean Square 10.4561
Critical Value 3.3554
Test Statistics 8.8590
Analysis of Variance
Completely Randomized Design
===============================================
ANALYSIS FOR RESPONSE VARIABLE: Inhibition
===============================================
Summary Information
--------------------------------------------------
Cytotoxicity and Antioxidant 31
ANOVA TABLE
Response Variable: Inhibition
----------------------------------------------------------------
Source DF Sum of Square Mean Square F Value Pr(> F)
----------------------------------------------------------------
Concentration 5 8026.7191 1605.3438 147.67 0.0000
Error 12 130.4529 10.8711
Total 17 8157.1720
----------------------------------------------------------------
Summary Statistics
-------------------------
CV(%) Inhibition Mean
-------------------------
6.32 52.14
-------------------------
Standard Errors
------------------------
Effects StdErr
------------------------
Concentration 2.69
------------------------
Alpha 0.01
Error Degrees of Freedom 12
Error Mean Square 10.8711
Critical Value 6.1011
Test Statistics 11.6141
Appendix B
Appendices
Letters and Communication
Cytotoxicity and Antioxidant 33
Cytotoxicity and Antioxidant 34
Cytotoxicity and Antioxidant 35
Cytotoxicity and Antioxidant 36
Cytotoxicity and Antioxidant 37
Cytotoxicity and Antioxidant 38
Cytotoxicity and Antioxidant 39
Appendix C
Appendices
Scanned Logbook
Cytotoxicity and Antioxidant 40
Cytotoxicity and Antioxidant 41
Cytotoxicity and Antioxidant 42
Cytotoxicity and Antioxidant 43
Appendix
AppendicesD
Project Evaluation Form
Cytotoxicity and Antioxidant 44