Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province is one of the most important endemism states of the flora of Iran with a considerable plant species diversity. In the present study, the cytotoxic activity of 13 plant species grown in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari have been evaluated on prostate (PC-3), breast (MCF-7), liver (HepG2), ovary (CHO), and melanoma (B16-F10) cancer cell lines. The cytotoxicity and apoptotic activity of methanol extracts was evaluated using resazurin reagent and flow cytometry of PI stained cells, respectively. Methanol extracts of Dionysia sawyeri, Stachys obtusicrena and Cicer oxyodon on CHO cell line (p <0.05) and D. sawyer and Linum album on B16/F10 cell line (p <0.05) showed significant cytotoxic effects and increased apoptosis. It is generally suggested that the plant extracts with low IC50 values are likely to be used as anti-cancer compounds in reducing cancer progression in scientific studies.
Keywords: Achillea; Apoptosis; Cytotoxic; Nepeta; Phlomis; Scutellaria; Tanacetum.