In vitro anti-hepatoma activity of fifteen natural medicines from Canada.

Fifteen crude drugs, Stellaria media Cyrill. (Caryophyllaceae), Calendula officinalis L. (Compositae), Achillea millefolium L. (Compositae), Verbascum thapsus L. (Scrophulariaceae), Plantago major L. (Plantaginaceae), Borago officinalis L. (Boraginaceae), Satureja hortensis L. (Labiatae), Coptis groenlandica Salisb. (Ranunculaceae), Cassia angustifolia Vahl. (Leguminosae), Origanum majorana L. (Labiatae), Centella asiatica L. (Umbelliferae), Caulophyllum thalictroides Mich. (Berberidaceae), Picea rubens Sargent. (Pinaceae), Rhamnus purshiana D.C. (Rhamnaceae) and Hibiscus sabdariffa L. (Malvaceae), which have been used as folk medicine in Canada, were evaluated for their anti-hepatoma activity on five human liver-cancer cell lines, i.e. HepG2/C3A, SK-HEP-1, HA22T/VGH, Hep3B and PLC/PRF/5. The samples were examined by in vitro evaluation for their cytotoxicity. The results showed that the effects of crude drugs on hepatitis B virus genome-containing cell lines were different from those against non hepatitis B virus genome-containing cell lines. C. groenlandica was observed to be the most effective against the growth of all five cell lines and its chemotherapeutic values will be of interest for further studies.