Background: Scrophularia species are used in traditional medicines to cure many diseases such as cancer. In this study, the anti-cancer and cytotoxic effects of a hydroalcoholic extract of Scrophularia megalantha on the colon cancer cell line, HCT–116 and on human fibroblasts were evaluated. Methods: The fibroblasts and HCT–116 cells were cultured with various concentrations of S. megalantha extract for 48 h. The MTT assay was used to determine cytotoxicity. The cell death pattern was determined by staining with Annexin V-FITC (fluorescein isothiocyanate) and PI (propidium iodide). Results: The GI50 index of the S. megalantha extract was found to be 62.6µg/mL and 49.8µg/mL for the colon cancer cells and fibroblasts, respectively. Furthermore, the cytotoxicity of this extract was almost similar to the normal fibroblasts and colon cancer cells. Flow cytometry analysis showed that the dominant pattern of cell death induced by the S. megalanthaextract was necrosis, whereas apoptosis was also detected with higher doses of this extract. Conclusion: Taken together, our experiments indicated that the crude extract of S.megalantha induced necrosis and inhibited the proliferation of theses colon cancer cells. Hence, this extract might be a useful agent for improving the treatment of multidrug-resistant colon cancer tumors. However, further in vivo experiments are necessary.
