MDPI Acta Medica Okayama 1420-3049 24 13 2019 Alpinia zerumbet (Pers.): Food and Medicinal Plant with Potential In Vitro and In Vivo Anti-Cancer Activities 2495 EN Maram Hussein Zahra Division of Chemistry and Biotechnology, Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Okayama University Tarek A. R. Salem Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine, Qassim University Bishoy El-Aarag Division of Chemistry and Biotechnology, Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Okayama University Nermeen Yosri Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Menoufia University Samah EL-Ghlban Biochemistry Division, Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, Menoufia University Kholoud Zaki Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Menoufia University Amel H. Marei Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Menoufia University Aida Abd El-Wahed Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Menoufia University Aamer Saeed Department of Chemistry, Quaid-i-Azam University Alfi Khatib Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, International Islamic University Malaysia Mohamed F. AlAjmi Pharmacognosy Group, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University Abdulrahman M. Shathili Al-Rayan Research and Innovation Center, Al-Rayan Colleges Jianbo Xiao Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau Shaden A. M. Khalifa Clinical Research Centre, Karolinska University Hospital Hesham R. El-Seedi Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Menoufia University BACKGROUND/AIM:Plants play an important role in anti-cancer drug discovery, therefore, the current study aimed to evaluate the biological activity of Alpinia zerumbet (A. zerumbet) flowers.<br/> METHODS:The phytochemical and biological criteria of A. zerumbet were in vitro investigated as well as in mouse xenograft model.<br/> RESULTS:A. zerumbet extracts, specially CH2Cl2 and MeOH extracts, exhibited the highest potent anti-tumor activity against Ehrlich ascites carcinoma (EAC) cells. The most active CH2Cl2 extract was subjected to bioassay-guided fractionation leading to isolatation of the naturally occurring 5,6-dehydrokawain (DK) which was characterized by IR, MS, 1H-NMR and 13C-NMR. A. zerumbet extracts, specially MeOH and CH2Cl2 extracts, exhibited significant inhibitory activity towards tumor volume (TV). Furthermore, A. zerumbet extracts declined the high level of malonaldehyde (MDA) as well as elevated the levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) in liver tissue homogenate. Moreover, DK showed anti-proliferative action on different human cancer cell lines. The recorded IC50 values against breast carcinoma (MCF-7), liver carcinoma (Hep-G2) and larynx carcinoma cells (HEP-2) were 3.08, 6.8, and 8.7 µg/mL, respectively.<br/> CONCLUSION:Taken together, these findings open the door for further investigations in order to explore the potential medicinal properties of A. zerumbet. No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.