Biological effects of the aqueous extract of Bridelia grandis stem bark on normal and neoplastic human cells: an in vitro preliminary evaluation.

The aim of the work is to investigate the effects of Bridelia grandis (Pierre ex Hutch) stem bark water extract on human HeLa cancer cells and normal monocytes treated in vitro, evaluating the morphological modifications with light and electron microscopy. The phytocomplex obtained from B. grandis caused a significant decrease in the mitotic index of both HeLa cancer cells and normal monocytes.

Optimum extraction process of polyphenols from Bridelia grandis stem bark using experimental design.

Euphorbiaceae barks are known to contain an appreciable amount of polyphenolic compounds responsible for several biological activities. Preliminary extraction from Bridelia grandis stem bark afforded high content of polyphenols, determined by spectrophotometric methods such as Folin-Ciocalteu (for total phenols, TP) and n-butanol-HCl (for condensed tannins, CT). A preliminary Plackett-Burman screening design was used to identify the key factors that influence the TP and CT extraction.