초록
Under the active search for biologically active novel agents for cancer prevention and treatment, some agents have been found from plants which are easily available. Our previous research on them revealed that C. annuum L. var. angulosum Mill have high antiproliferating effect on cancer cells. However, it has not been known whether the anticancer efficacy is different according to each part of C. annuum L. var. angulosum Mill or whether it can be changed by timing of harvest or solvent for extraction. Thus we compared the efficacy of each part of C. annuum L. var. angulosum Mill and assessed how much difference in the efficacy can be made according to the time of harvest or solvents for extraction. We observed the morphologic change and apoptosis 48 hr after treatment with the extract of each part of C. annuum L. var. angulosum Mill in MCF-7 mammary gland adenocarcinoma cells and human hepatoma cells. We also counted cancer cells by trypan blue method and MTT method to check the cytotoxicity. The leaf extract showed the highest anticancer effect among all the parts of C. annuum L. var. angulosum Mill; 50% and 70% reduction in the number of cancer cells was observed at 25 $\mu\textrm{g}$/mι and 50 $\mu\textrm{g}$/mι, respectively. It was more than 2 times as potent as 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). We found chromosomal fragmentation, clumping, and destuction by PI staining, and DNA fragmentation by electrophoresis. In conclusion, this study suggests that leaf extraction using water as solvent has the highest antiproliferative and apoptotic activity in cancer cells compared with other parts of extraction.