Ethnobotanical Uses and Cytotoxic Activities of Native Plants from the Lamiaceae Family in Uzbekistan

Of the more than 4500 species of higher plants that grow wild in Uzbekistan, over 100 species within the Lamiaceae family are native to the country. The cytotoxicity of 10 of these plant species was investigated for antiproliferative properties using methanol, hexane, chloroform, and water extracts. All tested water extracts of the plants exhibited moderate inhibition of cell proliferation with IC50 values above 200 mu g/ml. The chloroform and hexane extracts showed more potent inhibition of cell proliferation on tested cells than that of the methanol and water extracts. The chloroform extract of Ajuga turkestanica, Phlomis bucharica, and Scutellaria ramosissima strongly inhibited cell growth in HeLa cells with IC50 values of 7.1, 26.3, and 23.2 mu g/ml, respectively. The higher levels of cytotoxic activity were observed in chloroform and hexane extracts of A. turkestanica, Leonurus turkestanicus, P. bucharica, Phlomis thapsoides, S. ramosissima, and Stachys betonicflora to HL-60 cells. Both chloroform and hexane extracts of L. turkestanicus, P. bucharica, S. ramosissima, and Thymus seravschanicus displayed very pronounced activity towards P3X cell lines.