Anticancer potential of Calligonum comosum L.’Her. and Calligonum crinitum Boiss plants from United Arab Emirates

Indigenous plants from arid regions are known for their diverse applications in traditional medicine. These plants are particularly promising as potential anticancer agents due to their ability to produce a wide range of secondary metabolites. The present study addressed the problem of identifying and evaluating the anticancer properties of crude extracts from indigenous arid-region plants, Calligonum comosum L.’Her. and Calligonum crinitum Boiss., to determine their efficacy against human breast (MCF-7) and human colon adenocarcinoma (Caco-2) cell lines. Through various solvent-treated leaf extracts, including hexane, methanol, acetone, and chloroform, we aimed to determine the antiproliferative activities and identify extracts with promising efficacy in inhibiting cancer cell viability. The morphological changes and anticancer effects induced by these solvent-treated C. comosum and C. crinitum leaf extracts were investigated. Our results indicated that the use of acetone isolated leaf extracts on the MCF-7 cells displayed apoptotic morphological changes. Similarly, the MTT cytotoxicity assay revealed that the acetone-treated extracts of C. comosum and C. crinitum showed a significant inhibitory effect on MCF-7 cell lines, with IC₅₀ values of 24.62 μg/ml and 23.41 μg/ml, respectively. Conversely, the other solvents resulted in higher IC₅₀ values for inhibiting the MCF-7 cell proliferation. While for the Caco-2 cell lines, we observed remarkable antiproliferation activity, with IC₅₀ values of 37.76 µg/ml and 74.88 µg/ml for the C. comosum and C. crinitum chloroform-isolated extracts, respectively, in comparison to the hexane, methanol, and acetone-isolated extracts. These findings suggest that the extracts of C. comosum and C. crinitum possess significant potential for inhibiting the viability of MCF-7 and Caco-2 cancer cell lines, indicating their possible use as anticancer agents.