Phytochemical Extraction and Characterization of Gloriosa Superb L. Using Spectrometry and its Anticancer Activity on Receptor-Positive Breast Cancer

Abstract

Breast cancer happens when cells in the breast grow and divide in an uncontrolled way. According to WHO, breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer type, accounting for 1 in 8 cancer diagnoses worldwide. Even if there are combinations of treatment for receptor positive breast cancer depending on types and stages of the cancer, drugs are very complicated, expensive, and often lead to undesirable side effects. This shows the need for further exploration of drug. Traditionally, medicinal plant extracts are commonly used as a way of treatment for breast cancer in the world. Ethiopian traditional medicine experts/healers use Gloriosa superba L. root for the treatment of breast cancer. However, as far as the researcher knowledge is concerned, no study showed the compound present in the root with different solvent extracts and anticancer activity of the plant in Ethiopia. Knowing the compound present and anticancer activity of the plant helps to lay a base and tell if the plant can be used for receptor-positive breast cancer and future drug development. The current study was aimed to extract, characterize, and perform molecular docking to know the compounds present and anticancer activity of the plant on receptor-positive breast cancer. Different extracts were prepared with petroleum ether, chloroform, acetone and ethanol solvent using soxhlet extraction techniques. UV-Vis spectroscopy and GC-MS were used for the identification of compounds in the study. CB-Dock online server was used to study anticancer activity of the compound from Gloriosa superba L. root with estrogen receptor (PDB ID: 3ERT & 1ERE), progesterone receptor (PDB ID: 4OAR & 1A28) and her2 positive protein (PDB ID: 3RCD) in breast cancer. UV-Vis spectroscopy wavelength range indicates the presence of Terpenoids, Flavonoids and their derivatives, alkaloids, tannins, Chlorophyll and phenolic compounds. The GC-MS result from NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) library revealed the presence of 107 compounds in Gloriosa superba L. root. In docking result, compounds have good binding energy with 3ERT, 1ERE, 4OAR, 1A28 and 3RCD. The study revealed that the root of Gloriosa superba L. has anticancer activity with receptor positive breast cancer and especially a better activity with progesterone receptor cancer type.