In silico, in vitro and in vivo tests of ficus deltoidea jack leaves extract as inhibitor for β-catenin expression in colon carcinogenesis model

Context: Ficus deltoidea Jack leaves extract as anticolorectal cancer. Aims: This study aims to analyze the potential of FD extract to be an anti-colon cancer by investigating the extract capability in reducing β-catenin expression and inhibiting colon cancer cells growth. Settings |and Design: The research was conducted in Medical Faculty Universitas Indonesia with experimental design. Methods and Material: FD ethanol extracts was tested in vitro, in silico and in vivo. In vitro test was conducted to human colon cell lines. In vivo test was conducted to Balb/c mice induced with 10 mg/kg azoxymethane (AOM) and dextran sodium sulfate 1% (DSS). The colonic tissue collected was the distal portion. β-catenin expressions in the cytoplasm and nuclei of the epithelial cells of the colon crypt were semi quantitatively assessed using the immunohistochemistry staining on ten visual fields with 400x magnification. Statistical analysis used: SPSS. Results: FD ethanol extracts inhibit the expression of β-catenin in the crypt ephitelial cells of mice colon induced with AOM/DSS. The extracts also inhibit the growth of human colon cancer (HCT 116) with IC₅₀ value of 5.41 mg/mL. Phytochemical screening to the extracts gave three groups of compounds: alkaloid, flavonoid, and tannin. Water fraction is the best fraction. Based on in the results of in silico analysis with molecular docking, FD extract is believed to influence the expression of β-catenin, in which vitexin and isovitexin are the main candidate compounds to influence the expression of the protein. Conclusion: FD ethanol extract is potential to be an anti-colon cancer proven by the extract capability to reduce β-catenin expression.