In vitro Antioxidant Activity and Anticancer Effects of The Extracts from Eleutherococcus senticosus Max

Ethanol and butanol fractionation of E. senticosus showed strong anti-oxidant activity, and methanol and water extracts also had high anti-oxidant activity. The anti-oxidant activities in ethanol and butanol fractionation were higher than or similar to those of ${\alpha}-tocopherol$. The cytotoxic effect of root extract of E. senticosus was evaluated on seven different human cancer cell lines, The extracts of leaf and stem of E. senticosus also had strong antioxidant activity, but the antioxidant activity in root extract was higher than those in leaf and stem extracts. Methanol, hexane, and aqueous fraction layer had much higher inhibitory activities on lipid peroxidation in rat liver microsomes compared with ${\alpha}-tocopherol$. The effect of root extract of E. senticosus was evaluated on six human cancer cell lines. The values of 50% growth inhibition $(GI_{50})$ for the extracts were mostly below $30{\mu}g/ml$, and the extracts are considered as active inhibitory compounds on cancer cells.