Abstract
Abstract
1. The toxin compounds of yew are known to have anti-cancer properties and their production and harvest for the treatment of cancer is the emerging interest of recent studies. With the growing demand and limited supply, sustainable production and harvest is a major concern. Therefore, this study focused on the variation of cytotoxic effect among yew with regard to the lungs and breast cancer cell lines and their association with yew tree stem properties, sex, and browsing pressure.
2. 54 yew trees were sampled with the classification of stem property, identification of sex, and categorization of browsing pressure. The cell viability of yew extracts was assessed against NCI-H460 (lung cancer) and MCF-7 (breast cancer) cell lines by MTT Assay. The difference in cytotoxicity of yew trees with regard to two cell lines was statistically analyzed by using a t-test whereas its association with stem property, sex of trees, and browsing pressure were studied by using three-way ANOVA at a 0.05 significance level. The effect size for significant effects was further calculated.
3. The study revealed that the cytotoxicity of yew extracts varies among individual stands level and was significantly different between NCI-H460 and MCF-7. Stem property showed significant influence on cytotoxicity of yew whereas sex of trees did not show any effect. The effect of browsing pressure was not significant with regard to lung cancer cells but was significant with regard to breast cancer cells.
4. Synthesis and application: The study suggests that there is variation of cytotoxicity among individual yew trees. Its influencing factors may not be limited to morphological differences within and among trees, browsing pressure, and type of cancer cell lines but also potentially age of needles, the age of trees, sampling locations, and sampling periods. Considering all these factors in further studies will help to improve our understanding of the variation of cytotoxicity among yew trees. Such information will be helpful in the wise production and harvest of toxins from yew without compromising its conservation.
Keywords: cell viability, conservation, effect size, toxins, variation