Journal of Ethnopharmacology 70 (2000) 143 – 149

www.elsevier.com/locate/jethpharm

Cytotoxicity of some medicinal plant extracts used in

Tanzanian traditional medicine
Appolinary Kamuhabwa a, Charles Nshimo b, Peter de Witte a,*
a
Laboratorium 6oor Farmaceutische Biologie en Fytofarmacologie, Faculteit Farmaceutische Wetenschappen,
Katholieke Uni6ersiteit Leu6en, Van E6enstraat 4, B-3000 Leu6en, Belgium
b
Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Muhimbili Uni6ersity College of Health Sciences,
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Received 7 June 1999; received in revised form 30 August 1999; accepted 6 September 1999

Abstract

Using the ethnomedical data approach, some Tanzanian plants that are used in Tanzanian traditional medicine for
cancer or non-cancer diseases were collected and evaluated for cytotoxic activity. The antiproliferative effect of the
methanolic extracts (10 and 100 mg/ml) of 47 plants was evaluated in vitro on three human cell lines (HeLa, cervical
carcinoma; HT29, colon adenocarcinoma; and A431, skin carcinoma). From the nine plants that are used to treat
cancer, two plants (22%) exhibited pronounced cytotoxic effect ( B 25% cell proliferation) at least in one of the tested
cell lines. For the 38 plants that are used to treat non-cancer diseases, 14 plants (37%) exhibited pronounced cytotoxic
effect (B25% cell proliferation). Cell type cytotoxic specificity was observed in some extracts. Overall, the A431 cells
were much more sensitive to most of the extracts than the other cell lines. For the plants that are used as anticancer
herbal drugs, our results indicate that there is no correlation between the reported use of these plants and their
cytotoxic activity obtained in this study. However, plants that have shown pronounced cytotoxic activity will be
evaluated further for the possible isolation of active antitumor compounds. © 2000 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All
rights reserved.

Keywords: Cytotoxic; Traditional medicine; Plant extracts; Ethnomedical data

1. Introduction pounds (Cragg et al., 1994). Indeed there have

It is well established that plants have been a
useful source of clinically relevant antitumor com-
* Corresponding author. Tel.: + 32-16-323432; fax: + 32-
16-323460.
E-mail address: peter.dewitte@farm.kuleuven.ac.be (P. de
Witte)
been worldwide efforts to discover new anticancer
agents from plants. There are different ap-
proaches for the selection of plants that may
contain new biologically active compounds
(Cordell et al., 1991; Schwartsmann and Work-
man, 1993). One of the approaches used is the
ethnomedical data approach, in which the selec-
tion of a plant is based on the prior information
on the folk medicinal use of the plant. It is

0378-8741/00/$ - see front matter © 2000 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 3 7 8 - 8 7 4 1 ( 9 9 ) 0 0 1 6 1 - 0
144 A. Kamuhabwa et al. / Journal of Ethnopharmacology 70 (2000) 143–149
generally known that ethnomedical data provides
substantially increased chance of finding active
plants relative to random approach (Chapuis
et al., 1988; Cordell et al., 1991). However, as
for cancer, the disease is complicated and hetero-
geneous, which makes it difficult to be well
diagnosed, especially by traditional healers. The
ethnomedical information obtained for a plant
extract that is used to treat cancer might there-
fore not be reliable (Cragg et al., 1994).
Traditional Tanzanian medicinal herbs have
been used in the treatment of different diseases
in the country for centuries. There have been
claims that some traditional healers in Tanzania
can successfully treat cancer using herbal drugs.
Indeed, some traditional healers who were inter-
viewed recently in the country stressed that they
have successfully treated patients presented with
cancer or cancer related diseases.
In the course of our screening studies for
the antitumor compounds from plants, we under-
took the present study to evaluate the in vitro
cytotoxic activity of nine plant extracts that
are used in Tanzanian traditional medicine as
anticancer herbal drugs. Using three human
cell lines (HeLa, HT29 and A43), another 38
plant extracts that are used for the treatment
of other diseases in the country were also evalu-
ated.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Plant materials
All plant samples were collected from different
parts of Tanzania and their respective voucher
specimens are deposited at the Department of
Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy of the
Muhimbili University College of Health Sciences,
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
2.2. Preparation of extracts
For each plant sample, plant materials were
dried at room temperature and grounded. Dry
powdery plant samples were exhaustively ex-
tracted with methanol by maceration. Dry
methanolic extracts were obtained after removing
the solvent by evaporation under reduced pres-
sure. Dry methanolic extracts were then dis-
solved in dimethyl sulphoxide (DMSO) to give
the desired stock solutions of the extracts.
2.3. Cell lines and culture medium
HeLa (cervical carcinoma, human), HT29,
(colon adenocarcinoma, human) and A431 (skin
carcinoma, human) cell lines obtained from the
American Type Culture Collection (Rockville,
MD) were used in this study. All cell lines were
grown at 37°C in humidified 5% CO2 and 95%
air atmosphere in minimum essential medium
(MEM) with Earle’s salt containing 2 mM L-glu-
tamine, non-essential aminoacids (100× ), peni-
cillin (100 IU/ml), streptomycin (100 mg/ml),
tylocin (60 mg/ml), amphotericin B (0.25 mg/ml)
and 10% fetal calf serum (FCS). MEM, L-glu-
tamine, non-essential aminoacids, penicillin,
streptomycin, tylocin, amphotericin B, FCS and
phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) were obtained
from Gibco BRL (Paisley, UK).
Dilution of stock solutions was made in cul-
ture medium yielding final extracts concentra-
tions of 10 and 100 mg/ml with a final DMSO
concentration of 0.1%. This concentration of
DMSO did not affect cell viability.
2.4. Antiproliferati6e assay
Cells were seeded onto 96-well tissue microtitre
culture plates (Falcon, NJ, USA) at 5 ×103 cells
per well, and incubated for 24 h at 37°C. The
medium was replaced with fresh medium con-
taining different concentrations of extracts (100,
10 mg/ml) or the vehicle. The cells were then
incubated at 37°C for 72 h. Afterwards the ex-
tract containing medium was removed and cell
proliferation determined by quantification of the
cellular protein content using naphthol blue
black (Acros, Beerse, Belgium), as reported
(Palombella and Vicek, 1989). Experiments were
performed in triplicate and the results were ex-
pressed as cell proliferation as the percentage of
control.
 A. Kamuhabwa et al. / Journal of Ethnopharmacology 70 (2000) 143–149 145

Table 1
List of tested plant species with their used parts and known medicinal uses or pharmacological actions

Plant species (Family) Part Common uses or actions Ref.

Pterocarpus angolensis DC. (Papilionaceae) Root Anemia, venereal, kidney C. Nshimo (pers. comm.)a
diseases
Clerodendrum myricoides (Hochst.) (Verbenaceae) Root bark Analgesic, antipyretic, Iwu (1993), C. Nshimo (pers.
infections comm.)
Oxygonium sinuatum (Meisn.) Dammer (Polygo- Whole plant Skin infections, amebia- Iwu (1993), C. Nshimo (pers.
naceae) sis, cancer comm.)
Rhus natalensis Krauss (Anacardiaceae) Root Hernia, abdominal pain C. Nshimo (pers. comm.)
Acacia nilotica (L.) Del. (Mimosaceae) Root Cancer, sclerosis Johnson (1999)
Dombeya shupange Sprague (Sterculiaceae) Root bark Venereal diseases, insan- Iwu (1993)
ity
Parinari excelsa Sabine (Chrysobalanaceae) Stem bark Malaria, antiseptic C. Nshimo (pers. comm.)
Ximenia caffra Sond. (Olacaceae) Root Anthelmintic, chest pain C. Nshimo (pers. comm.)
Salacia madagascariensis (Lam.) DC. (Celastraceae) Root Hernia C. Nshimo (pers. comm.)
Cassia abbre6iata (L.) Det. (Mimosaceae) Root Stomach pains, infec- C. Nshimo (pers. comm.)
tions
Margaritaria discoidea (Baill.) Webster (Euphorbi- Root bark Fever, coughs, inflamma- Iwu (1993)
aceae) tion
Vangueria tomentosa Hochst. (Rubiaceae) Root Anthelmintic C. Nshimo (pers. comm.)
Markhamia hildebrandtii (Bak.) Sprague (Bignoni- Root Analgesic, difficult urina- C. Nshimo (pers. comm.)
aceae) tion
U6aria acuminata Oliv. (Annonaceae) Root Dysentery, painful men- C. Nshimo (pers. comm.)
struation
U6aria leptocladon Oliv. (Annonaceae) Stem bark Venereal diseases C. Nshimo (pers. comm.)
Annickia kummeriae Engl. and Diels (Annonaceae) Barks Antiseptic for wounds C. Nshimo (pers. comm.)
Entanda abyssinica A. Rich. (Mimosaceae) Root bark Hypotensive, analgesic, Iwu (1993), C. Nshimo (pers.
cancer comm.)
Ocotea usambarensis Engl. (Lauraceae) Root bark Swellings, stomach pains C. Nshimo (pers. comm.)
Zanthoxylum chalybeum Engl. (Rutaceae) Root Fever, bilharzia C. Nshimo (pers. comm.)
Pteleopsis myrtifolia (Laws.) Engl. and Diels (Com- Root Venereal diseases C. Nshimo (pers. comm.)
bretaceae)
Cassia didymobotrya Fres. (Leguminoceae) Leaves Anemia, laxative, an- C. Nshimo (pers. comm.)
thelmintic
Cana6aria rosea DC. (Papilionaceae) Seeds Skin diseases, constipa- C. Nshimo (pers. comm.)
tion, cancer
Fluggea 6irosa Baill. (Euphorbiaceae) Root bark HIV related diseases C. Nshimo (pers. comm.)
Thylachium africanum Lour (Capparidaceae) Leaves Toothache, fever Iwu (1993)
Gnidia kraussiana Meisn. (Thymelaeaceae) Root Skin diseases, bronchitis, Iwu (1993), C. Nshimo (pers.
cancer comm.)
Harissonia abyssinia Oliv. (Simaroubaceae) Root Fever, dyspepsia, cancer Iwu (1993), C. Nshimo (pers.
comm.)
Crinum papillosum Nordal (Amarylidacea) Whole plant Antiseptic C. Nshimo (pers. comm.)
Gloriosa superba L. (Liliaceae) Root Anthelmintic, cancer, Iwu (1993), Johnson (1999)
colic, malaria
Markhamia obtusifolia (Bak.) Sprague (Bignoni- Root Toothache, fever in chil- C. Nshimo (pers. comm.)
aceae) dren
Paullinia pinnata L. (Sapindaceae) Aerial parts Fever, bronchitis, Iwu (1993)
bruises, laxative
U6aria lucida Benth. (Anonaceae) Stem bark Gynecological problems C. Nshimo (pers. comm.)
Acacia polyacantha Willd. (Mimosaceae) Roots Sterility (women), water C. Nshimo (pers. comm.)
deficiency
Minopsis fraticosa Boj. (Sapotaceae) Roots Constipation, hernia, C. Nshimo (pers. comm.)
venereal diseases
146 A. Kamuhabwa et al. / Journal of Ethnopharmacology 70 (2000) 143–149

Table 1 (Continued)

Plant species (Family) Part Common uses or actions Ref.

Euphorbia quandrangularis Pax (Euphorbiaceae) Roots Back, ribs and chest pain C. Nshimo (pers. comm.)
Dichrostachys cinerea (L.) Wight and Arn. (Mi- Whole plant Analgesic, antiviral, Iwu (1993), C. Nshimo (pers.
mosaceae) asthma comm.)
Capparis sepiaris L. (Capparidaceae) Root bark Cancer, fever, swollen Johnson (1999), C. Nshimo
stomach (pers. comm.)
Ziziphus mucronata Willd. (Rhamnaceae) Root Tonic, cold, lumbago, tu- Iwu (1993), Johnson (1999)
mor
Lannea stuhlmanii Engl. (Anacardiaceae) Root Tonic, antifungal, pain re- Iwu (1993)
lief
Opilia celtidifolia Guill. and Perr. (Opiliaceae) Stem Sleeping sickness, diuretic, C. Nshimo (pers. comm.)
purgative
Keetia zanzibarica (Klotzsch) Bridson (Theophras- Root Chest pain C. Nshimo (pers. comm.)
taceae)
Bauhinia thoningii Schumach. (Leguminoceae) Stem bark Bilharzia C. Nshimo (pers. comm.)
Kigelia africanum (Lam.) Benth. (Bignoniaceae) Stem bark Measles, analgesic, fevers C. Nshimo (pers. comm.)
Strychnos innocua Del. (Loganiaceae) Root Inflammations, colic, laxa- C. Nshimo (pers. comm.)
tive
Harungana madagascariensis Poir. (Guttiferae) Leaves Dysentery, leprosy Johnson (1999)
Bridelia micrantha (Hochst.) Baill. (Euphorbiaceae) Root bark Cough, diabetes, laxative, Iwu (1993), C. Nshimo (pers.
cancer comm.)
Hymenocardia mollis Pax (Euphorbiaceae) Root bark Colic, sterility in women, C. Nshimo (pers. comm.)
cancer
Maeruarendichii Gilg and Bened (Capparidaceae) Root Cancer C. Nshimo (pers. comm.)

a
C. Nshimo, personal communication, Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy of the Muhimbili University College
of Health Sciences, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

3. Results activity of the 38 plants that are commonly used

In order to evaluate the cytotoxic effect of 47
plant extracts that are used in Tanzanian tradi-
tional medicine, an antiproliferative assay with
three human cell lines (HeLa, HT29 and A431)
was performed. Table 1 presents the list of the
investigated plants, the parts used and their
known medicinal uses according to the Handbook
of African Medicinal Plants (Iwu, 1993), Ethnob-
otany Desk Reference (Johnson, 1999) and direct
information obtained by Dr Charles Nshimo (De-
partment of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Phar-
macy, Muhimbili University College of Health
Sciences, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania) through inter-
viewing local traditional healers. Table 2 shows
the cytotoxic activity of the nine plant extracts
that are commonly used in the treatment of can-
cer or cancer related illnesses in Tanzanian tradi-
tional medicine. Table 3 shows the cytotoxic
in Tanzanian traditional medicine to treat non-
cancer diseases.
Of the plants used to treat cancer diseases
(Table 2), the Entanda abyssinica extract exhibited
a pronounced cytotoxic effect (B25% cell prolif-
eration at 100 mg/ml) on the three cell lines. On
the other hand, Capparis sepiaris extract exhibited
the least cytotoxic effect (\ 75% cell prolifera-
tion) at both concentrations on the three cell lines.
The results in Table 2 indicate that out of the nine
plant extracts, two (22%), four (44%), two (22%)
and one (11%) plant extracts exhibited a cytotoxic
activity on cell proliferation between 0 and 25%,
25 and 50%, 50 and 75%, and 75 and 100% cell
proliferation, respectively, in one or more of the
three cell lines tested. In the group of plants that
are used to treat cancer diseases, there was no
active (\50% cell proliferation) plant extract at
the 10 mg/ml concentration.
 A. Kamuhabwa et al. / Journal of Ethnopharmacology 70 (2000) 143–149 147

Table 2
Cytotoxic activity of plant extracts (10 or 100 mg/ml in the three cell lines) that are used in the treatment of cancer or cancer related
illnesses in Tanzanian traditional medicinea

Plant species Cytotoxicity (cell proliferation as the % of control)

HeLa (mg/ml) HT29 (mg/ml) A431 (mg/ml)

100 10 100 10 100 10

Hymenocardia mollis − − + − + −
Bridelia micrantha − − − − + −
Cana6aria rosea − − − − ++ −
Capparis sepiaris − − − − − −
Oxygonium sinuatum − − ++ − ++ −
Entanda abyssinica +++ − +++ − +++ −
Gnidia kraussiana + − + − ++ +
Harissonia abyssinia ++ − +++ − +++ −
Maeruarendichii + − ++ − ++ −

a
−, indicates 100–75%, +, 75–50%, ++, 50–25% and +++, 25–0% cell proliferation vs. control. The results are the average
of three independent experiments with less than 10% standard deviations.

While 26 out of the 38 plant extracts that are
used to treat non-cancer diseases (Table 3)
exhibited a cytotoxic effect resulting in less than
50% cell proliferation at least in one of the three
cell lines tested, the remaining 12 plant extracts
exhibit either minimum or no cytotoxic effect
( \50% cell proliferation). Of the 26 plant
extracts that exhibited a cytotoxic effect resulting
in less than 50% cell proliferation, 14 (37%) plant
extracts exhibited at least a cytotoxic effect
between 0 and 25% cell proliferation in one or
more of the three cell lines tested. In this group of
plants that are used to treat non-cancer diseases,
five plant extracts were active (B50% cell
proliferation) at the 10 mg/ml concentration in one
or more cell lines (Table 3). Overall, the A431
cells were much more sensitive to the cytotoxic
effects of the extracts than the other cell lines.
4. Discussion
The present study was undertaken to evaluate
the cytotoxic activity of some Tanzanian
traditional medicines that are used in the treat-
ment of cancer and cancer related illnesses in the
country. Ethnopharmacological data (information
based on the medicinal traditional use of plants)
has been one of the common useful ways for the
discovery of biologically active compounds from
plants (Cordell et al., 1991; Cragg et al., 1994).
The big advantage of the ethnopharmacological
information is that the extensive literature may
already allow for some rationalization with
respect to the biological potential of a reputed use
(Cordell et al., 1991).
In this study, methanolic extracts (supposed to
contain mainly polar compounds) were used.
Traditional healers who were interviewed on how
they prepare the extracts before administering to
the patients indicated that it was the water
decoction that was administered, meaning that it
is the polar compounds that were responsible for
the reported anticancer activity.
Since it is known that different cell lines might
exhibit different sensitivities towards a cytotoxic
compound, the use of more than one cell line is
therefore considered necessary in the detection of
cytotoxic compounds. Bearing this in mind, three
human cell lines of different histological origin
were used in the present study. As can be seen
from Tables 2 and 3, cell type cytotoxic specificity
is observed in some plant extracts. Cell type
cytotoxic specificity of plant extracts is likely to be
due to the presence of different classes of
compounds in the extract, as it has been
148 A. Kamuhabwa et al. / Journal of Ethnopharmacology 70 (2000) 143–149

documented in the case of known classes of com- extracts from both groups (plants used to treat
pounds (Cragg et al., 1994). cancer and cancer related illnesses and those used
The results of the present study indicate the to treat other diseases). While 37% of the plants
presence of cytotoxic activity in some of the plant for non-cancer disease purposes showed pro-

Table 3
Cytotoxic activity of plant extracts (10 or 100 mg/ml in the three cell lines) that are commonly used to treat non-cancer diseases in
Tanzanian traditional medicinea

Plant species Cytotoxicity (cell proliferation as the % of control)

HeLa (mg/ml) HT29 (mg/ml) A431 (mg/ml)

100 10 100 10 100 10

Pterocarpus angolensis + − + − ++ −
Clerodendrum myricoides ++ − +++ − +++ −
Rhus natalensis − − + − ++ −
Acacia nilotica + − ++ − ++ −
Dombeya shupange ++ − + − ++ −
Parinari excelsa +++ − + − ++ −
Ximenia caffra +++ − ++ − ++ −
Salacia madagascariensis +++ − +++ − +++ ++
Cassia abbre6iata − − + − ++ −
Margaritaria discoidea − − + + ++ ++
Vangueria tomentosa + − − − ++ −
Markhamia hildebrandtii − − − − ++ −
U6aria lucida ++ + +++ − ++ ++
U6aria acuminata +++ ++ +++ + +++ −
U6aria leptocladon +++ − +++ − +++ −
Annickia kummeriae ++ − +++ + +++ +
Ocotea usambarensis +++ − ++ − +++ −
Zanthoxylum chalybeum ++ + ++ − ++ ++
Pteleopsis myrtifolia + − +++ − +++ −
Cassia didymobotrya + − ++ − ++ −
Fluggea 6irosa + − +++ − +++ −
Thylachium africanum − − ++ − +++ −
Crinum papillosum +++ − +++ − ++ −
Gloriosa superba ++ +++ +++ ++ +++ +++
Markhamia obtusifolia − − − − ++ −
Paullinia pinnata ++ + − − + −
Acacia polyacantha − − − − − −
Minopsis fraticosa − − − − − −
Dichrostachys cinerea − − − − − −
Ziziphus mucronata + − + − + −
Opilia celtidifolia + − − − + −
Keetia zanzibarica − − − − − −
Bauhinia thoningii + − + − − −
Kigelia africanum − − − − − −
Strychnos innocua − − − − − −
Harungana madagascariensis − − − − + −
Euphorbia quandrangularis − − − − − −
Lannea stuhlmanii + − − − + −

a
−, indicates 100–75%, +, 75–50%, ++, 50–25% and +++, 25–0% cell proliferation vs. control. The results are the average
of three independent experiments with less than 10% standard deviations.
 A. Kamuhabwa et al. / Journal of Ethnopharmacology 70 (2000) 143–149
nounced activity ( B 25% cell proliferation), only
22% of the plants for cancer diseases exhibited the
same activity at the 100 mg/ml concentration. Due
to the fact that there were only few active plant
extracts in the group of plants that are used to
treat cancer diseases and that these plant extracts
were only active at the highest concentration
tested (100 mg/ml), this implies that there is no
correlation between the reported use of these
plants as anticancer herbal drugs and their cyto-
toxic activity obtained in this study.
Misdiagnosis of cancer by traditional healers
might explain the observed lack of correlation
between the reported anticancer activities of plant
extracts and their cytotoxic activity on the tested
cell lines. In addition, it is known that some
anticancer agents might exhibit their antitumor
activity in vivo but with no in vitro cytotoxic
activity, a phenomenon that has been reported to
be due to immune modulation by the compound
which could lead to antitumor activity in vivo
(Rosskopf et al., 1992).
However, it is interesting to note that some of
the tested plant extracts that showed substantial
cytotoxicity in this study contain potential antitu-
mor compounds. Indeed, other workers have al-
ready reported on the antitumor activity of the
extract of Gnidia kraussiana (Boris and Cordell,
1984), U6aria species (Cole et al., 1976) and Sala-
cia madagascariensis (Sneden, 1981). It is also
interesting to note that the cytotoxic activity ex-
hibited by Gloriosa superba extract is likely to be
due to the presence of a poison (i.e. colchicine)
that has been associated with Gloriosa superba
poisoning (Aleem, 1992). In future, plants that
have shown pronounced cytotoxic activity in this
149
study but were not yet investigated by other
workers will therefore be evaluated further for the
possible isolation of active antitumor compounds.
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