القيمة المهملة للموارد الطبيعية الإماراتية : الأنشطة الفريدة المضادة للسرطان من نبات المانغروف الإماراتي

Abstract EN

Background.

The increased mortality rate due to cancer, the dangerous side effects of available anti-cancer drugs and the resistance of cancer to current drugs, have led to an urgent need to discover new anti cancer drugs.

Plants are known as one of the main sources of medicines.

Mangroves are one of the oldest trees known for many years in folklores in the treatment of many diseases including cancer.

The mangrove plant is one of the most common tree species in terms of its adaptation to adverse environmental conditions in the UAE.

Purpose.

The main objective of this study is to explore the anti-cancer activity, and the degree of specificity and safety of the Emirati mangrove plant through a comparison of different extracts from different parts of the plant on different cancer cells.

Methodology.

The leaves and stems of the plant were collected from the Sharjah desert and dried in the shade.

The dried leaves and stems were ground and extracted with ethanol.

The ethanol extract was dried and fractionated using different organic solvents including hexane, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate and methanol.

Then each dried extract was tested on different cancer cells, including breast cancer (MDA-231), colon cancer (HT29), lung cancer (A549) and normal cells as a source of comparison.

Then the anticancer activities of all extracts were compared.

Results.

Both the leaves and stems under investigation showed variable anti-cancer activities.

However, hexane and methanol extracts from the leaves were the safest on normal cells.

On the other hand, hexane extract from leaves caused non-selective anti-cancer activities, while methanol extract from leaves caused selective inhibitory activities, especially against breast cancer (MDA-231).

Conclusions.

The results obtained indicated that hexane and methanol extracts from mangrove leaves could be pioneering new sources of safe and effective anti-cancer drugs.