Anticancer effects of ginger extracts from rhizomes of zingiber officinale against human liver cancer cells / Marhani Alias

The rhizome of ginger (Zingiber officinale), is the most widely used as a condiment for various food and beverages. Hepatocellular carcinoma is the most common liver cancer in adults. In this study two types of cell lines, WRL68 (non-tumourigenic fetal liver) cells and HepG2 (human hepatocarcinoma) cells were used. Ginger extracts has been claimed to be a potent antioxidant, thus the aim of this study was to investigate the possible synergistic, additive or antagonist cytotoxicity effects of ginger (zingiber officinale) in these cells. Cells were plated in 96-wells plates and incubated in conditions of 95% 02, 5% CO2, at 37°C. MTS assay was used to measure the cell viability. Concentration response curve for ginger extract were constructed to determine the effects of concentration on cell viability and to calculate the median inhibitory concentrations (IC50) for each of the compound. The results showed that both ginger extracts (EA) and (MeOH) at higher concentration (1000 µM) were more effective cytotoxic effect in HepG2 cells.