Abstract
Prior to the availability of chemotherapeutic agents, dietary measures, including traditional medicines derived from plants, were the major forms of cancer treatment. One such plant is M. charantia (Family: Cucurbitaceae), whose fruit is known as Karela or bitter gourd. M. charantia is believed to posse's anti-carcinogenic properties and it can modulate its effect via xenobiotic metabolism and oxidative stress. Different concentration (200 mu M-800 mu M) of the alpha and beta momorcharin a protein extracted from bitter gourd fruit, were treated (24 hrs incubation) separately with six different cancer cell lines 1321N1, Gos-3, U87-MG, Sk Mel, Corl-23, Weri Rb-1 and normal L6 muscle cell line. The results also show that combining either temozolomide (240 mu M) or vinblastine (40 mu g) with (800 mu M) alpha and beta momorcharin, result in significant decreases in cell viability for each cell line, these effects were additive compared to the individual effect of temozolomide or vinblastine.