1 Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology, University of Ibadan, Oyo State, Ibadan, Nigeria
2 Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, College of Health Sciences, Benue State University of Makurdi, Nigeria
3 Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Oyo State, Ibadan, Nigeria
4 Department of Chemical Sciences, Bells University of Technology, Ota, Ogun State
Despite the significant gains made in cancer therapy, cancer remains a major cause of global deaths due to rapid drug resistance. Therefore, urgent concerted efforts towards the discovery and development of newer and effective anticancer agents cannot be overemphasized. This study investigated in vitro cytotoxicity potential of methanol extracts of the root, stem, and leaves of Mezoneuron benthamianum. Leaf, stem and root samples were collected, authenticated, dried, separately pulverized and extracted in methanol. The methanol extracts were analysed for the presence of phytochemicals and cytotoxic potential evaluated by tetrazolium 3-(4,5-dimethyl thiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) colorimetric assay on selected human cancer cells lines, HeLa (cervical cancer) and HEp-2 (epidermal carcinoma of the larynx), using mammalian Vero cells as a negative control. Data generated was subjected to descriptive statistics. The flavonoids in the plant was between 40 – 67.2% and was significantly higher (p < 0.05) compared to alkaloids and saponins. At concentrations of ≥ 50 μg/mL, the extracts exhibited 100% cytotoxicity on the cancer cells. The methanol root and leaf extracts with CC50 of 15.64 and 11.38 μg/mL were more cytotoxic on HeLa and HEp-2, respectively. In comparison to the stem and root extracts, the methanol leaf extract was selectively more toxic to cancer cell lines than Vero cells (CC50 = 28.89 μg/mL). Preliminary investigation reveals that Mezoneuron benthamianum contain bioactive compounds that possess promising anticancer potential that could be exploited.