Antiproliferative Effect of Epilobium parviflorum Extracts on Colorectal Cancer Cell Line HT-29

The Epilobium species are rich in various active phytochemicals and have seen wide use in folk medicine to treat several diseases. The present study exhibited the antiproliferative activity of aqueous and ethanolic Epilobium parviflorum extracts in a colon cancer cell line, HT-29 cells. Both types of extracts reduced the cell viability of HT-29 cells in a dose-dependent manner. A gene expression analysis of the HT-29 cells demonstrated an increase in apoptotic genes, Caspase-3 and Caspase-8. Nuclear fragmentation of the apoptotic cells was also demonstrated through TUNEL assay and immunostaining experiments. On the other hand, the same lethal concentrations of the E. parviflorum extracts did not significantly affect a non-cancerous human fibroblast cell line, BJ cells. Our results confirmed that aqueous and ethanolic E. parviflorum extracts can eliminate proliferation of human colorectal carcinoma cells in vitro. E. parviflorum may have the potential to become a therapeutic agent against colon cancers.