Background: The spread of phytocomplex application and justification of its selective effects on tumour cells (mainly due to the presence of flavonoids) require research of its cytotoxic and immunomodulatory activity.
Aim: The goal wa`s to study the direct cytotoxic effect of the phytocomplex and its modulating effect on the cytotoxic activity of the donor's mononuclear blood cells in in vitro experiments.
Methods: The phytocomplex was a dry extract from marsh cinquefoil, creeping alfalfa and common hop; its main active ingredients were flavonoids. Transplantable monolayer cultures of lung adenocarcinoma, colorectal cancer, erythroblastic leukaemia, and fibroblasts were used as target cells. The cytotoxic activity was assessed using a cytotoxic test based on the selective ability to live cells to reduce MTT (3-[4, 5-dimethyltriazol-2-yl]-2, 5 diphenyltetrazolium bromide) to formazan in mitochondria. Quantitative determination of formazan was performed using spectrophotometry.
Results: A direct cytotoxic effect of the phytocomplex in concentrations of at least 2.5 mg/ml on tumour cells has been established. Its modulating effect on the cytotoxic activity of mononuclear blood cells at a concentration of 0.05 mg/ml was shown. The phytocomplex in doses of 0.25 and 0.5 mg/ml increased the killer activity of the mononuclear cells in a diseased person's blood, but did not affect these blood cells in a healthy donor. Incubation of lymphocytes with a phytocomplex for 24 hours increased the cytotoxic activity of mononuclear cells by 20-25%.
Conclusion: The direct cytotoxic effect of the phytocomplex and its modulating effect on the cytotoxic activity of mononuclear blood cells in model experiments in vitro have been established.
Keywords: Cytotoxic activity; Cytotoxic test; Flavonoids; Mononuclear blood cells; Plant extract.