Physiological Response of Human Epithelial Squamous Carcinoma (HEp-2) cells to a Di-Herbal Formulation

Senna alata and Senna podocarpa are medicinal plants widely used in complementary and alternative medicine in the treatment of various diseases, in southwestern Nigeria. The in vitro cytotoxic and genotoxic potential of a formulation composed of methanolic leaf extract of S. alata (75%) and S. podocarpa (25%), on Human Epithelial Squamous Carcinoma (HEp-2) cells was investigated. Hep-2 cells were exposed to graded (0 - 933µg/ml) concentrations of the formulation for 48 hrs after which cytotoxicity and genotoxicity were assessed using the WST-1 assay, comet assay as well as DNA fragmentation assay. The formulation did not significantly (p > 0.05) alter cell viability at the doses tested. The current study further provided evidence that 186.5µg/ml and 559.5µg/ml of the formulation did not induce DNA Damage in HEp-2 cells given the absence of tail moments from the visible comet head. The results suggest that the formulation did not exhibit anti-proliferative activity, but rather, may contain some growth promoting principles. Key words: Senna alata, Senna podocarpa, Hep-2 cells, Cytotoxicity, CAM