Chemical Profiling of Chlorophytum comosum (Thunb.) Jaques by GCMS/LC-ESI-MS and its Antiproliferative Effects on Human Carcinoma Cell Lines

BACKGROUND Chlorophytum comosum popularly known as Spider Ivy is used as medicinal plant in traditional Chinese medicine, however its detailed chemical composition and biological activity is yet unexplored. OBJECTIVE To carry out phytochemical investigation on different parts of Chlorophytum comosum using GC-MS/LC-ESI-MS and evaluation of its antioxidant, haemolytic and antiproliferative potential on breast cancer (MCF-7), lung cancer (A549, H1299) and normal lung (L-132) cell lines. METHODS Chemical constituents from aqueous roots and leaves extracts were identified using LC-ESI-MS/GC-MS. The identified compounds were annotated based on match of mass spectra with the literature using NIST 14 and METLIN databases. Antioxidant activity was checked using DPPH, FRAP and TPC assays. The antiproliferative effects of ethanolic roots and leaves extracts of Chlorophytum comosum were measured by MTT assay on breast cancer (MCF-7), lung cancer (A549 & H1299) and normal lung (L-132) cell lines. The toxicity studies of the extracts were carried out using Haemolysis assay. RESULTS GC-MS analysis identified 34 metabolites in roots and 17 from leaves, while as 17 compounds from roots and 7 from leaves were detected by LC-ESI-MS. Significant antiproliferative effects were observed on the A549 and MCF-7 cancer cell lines with IC50 values ranging from 56.86 µg/ml to 68.68 µg/ml while no marked response was observed against normal cell line L-132. CONCLUSION Our study represents the first report on the detailed chemical composition and antiproliferative potential of Chlorophytum comosum against lung and breast cancer cell lines.