Biological effects of the aqueous extract of Bridelia grandis stem bark on normal and neoplastic human cells: an in vitro preliminary evaluation

The aim of the work is to investigate the effects of Bridelia grandis (Pierre ex Hutch) stem bark water extract on human cells in vitro. The results show that B. grandis water extracts have an antiproliferative effect on human cells,with a different effect on neoplastic and normal cells. The antiproliferative effect is accompanied by the appearanceof various subcellular alterations. The morphological alterations observed are likely to represent the condition of ‘dark cell’ as a possible preliminary phase towards the autophagic and/or apoptotic cell death.