CELL VIABILITY AND CYTOTOXIC EFFECT OF ACANTHOPHORA SPICIFERA (RED SEAWEED) ON HT29 COLON CANCER CELL LINE

Acanthophora Spicifera is a species of marine red seaweed and in the family Rhodomelaceae. They were freshly collected from Mandapam Coastal Area, Rameswaram Tamil Nadu. India and rinsed in seawater and packed in aseptic bags for further proceedings to the laboratory. Seaweeds are potential renewable resources in the marine environment. It has been used as antioxidant and antimutagen. The results of the present study revealed the reduction of cell viability after the treatment of methanolic extract of Acanthophora spicifera (10-200 mu g/mL). In DNA Fragmentation by comet assay showed the methanolic extract of Acanthophora spicifera, the presence of the tail reflect the DNA damage and the potent cell mortality was shown at the concentration 200 mu g/ml then decreased significantly with the decreased concentration of extract. Our study also demonstrated the revealed the protective effect of Acanthophora spicifera in HT-29 cell line treated with the methanolic extract of Acanthophora spicifera. Therefore, we concluded that Acanthophora spicifera might be used as a rich source of phytoconstituents and natural antioxidants.