Table 5 In vitro and in vivo assays showing anticancer activities by bitter gourd

1

In vitro assay in human nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells

Lectin purified from bitter gourd seeds

Flow cytometric apoptosis assay

Potent cytotoxicity towards cell lines CNE 1 and CNE 2 at IC50, 6.9 and 7.4 respectively

Fang et al. 2012

In vivo assay in athymic nude mice

TUNEL staining assay

Average remission of NPC xenograft tumours in mice

2

In vitro study in liver cancer cell lines

In vivo studies in nude mice

MAP protein from M charantia seeds

Flow cytometric assay in Hep G2 cells and Hep G2-bearing mice

Inhibition in cell viability with an IC₅₀ value of 28.6 μM for 24 hrs and 7.8 μM for 48 in Hep G2 cells and effective anti-tumour potential in Hep G2 bering mice

Fang et al. 2012

3

In vitro study on cervical and breast cancer cell lines

Ethanolic extract of bitter gourd

Sulforhodamine – B assay

Effective cytotoxicity towards HeLa and MCF7 cell lines

Shobha et al. 2015

4

In vitro assay on breast cancer cell lines

3β, 7β, 25 -trihydroxycurcurbita 5,23 (E)- dien-19- al (TCD) isolated from whole plant

MTT assay

Suppression in proliferation of MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cell lines with IC50 values of 19 and 23 μM respectively at 72 hrs

Bai et al. 2016

5

In vitro assay in human colon cancer cell lines

Novel protein BG 4 isolated from M charantia seeds

Flow cytometry apoptosis assay

Cytotoxicity towards HCT-116 and HT-29 cell lines with ED50 values of 134.4 and 217 μg/ml respectively

Dia & Krishnan 2016

6

In vitro assay in lung cancer (A 549), breast cancer (MCF 7), chronic myeloid leukemia (K 562) and T cell leukemia (Jurkat cells)

M.charantia fruit and seed, ethanol and acetone extract

MTT assay

Anti-tumour activity of 90, 92, 85, and 87% against K562, A549, MCF 7 and Jukart cell lines respectively by ethanolic extract

Güneş et al. 2019