Cytotoxic and anti-HIV activities of some Tanzanian Garcinia species

Abstract

Cancer and HIV/AIDS remains the greatest public health and humanitarian challenges in the current world’s health sector. For many decades now, millions of lives have been compromised by the two diseases. This study has evaluated ethanol extracts from nine Garcinia plant species collected in Tanzania for their in vitro cytotoxicity against four human cancer cell lines and for anti-HIV activity against HIV-1 viral replication in MT4 cells. Among the tested extracts, the fruit extracts of G. livingstoneii and G. semseii showed moderate to mild cytotoxic activities against A549, DU145, KB and Kbivin human cell lines with 50 % cytotoxic (CC₅₀) values ranging from 5.7-20.0 µg/ml. Furthermore, only fruit extracts of G. livingstonei and G. semseii showed significant anti-HIV-1 activity with EC₅₀ values of 2.25 ± 0.51 and 0.93 ± 0.67 µg/ml respectively. This study has shown the potential of the Garcinia extracts to be the source of possible lead compounds and anti-HIV drug candidates currently needed for the management of HIV/AIDS. Phytochemical screening indicated dominance of phenolic compounds in Garcinia species while isolation of active principles from active fractions will be further undertaken.