EFFECT OF CRUDE LECTIN OBTAINED FROM THORN APPLE ON THE PROLIFERATION OF CANCER CELLS
The aim of this study is to detect in vitro the effect of crude lectin extracted from thorn apple (Datura stramonium) on the mitotic activity of cancer cells. A variety of herbs and herbal extracts contain different phytochemicals with biological activity that can provide therapeutic effects, some of them have anticancer activity, they act by reduce mitosis and proliferation in the cancer cells or by induce apoptosis in abnormal cells. In vitro, two types of malignant tumor were tested in this study. The cancer cells were exposed to various concentration of crude lectin of thorn apple 1500 and 2000 μg/ ml. then the percentage of mitotic indexes were estimated. The results appeared there was insignificant decrement in the proliferation of cancer cells in both types of tumor cells exposed to our extract. Conclusion obtained from this study indicated that the ability of crude lectin of thorn apple is low