Penulis: Norzilawati Pauzi, Khamsah Suryati Mohd

Malaysia is blessed with various medicinal plants that can potentially treat multiple diseases. One of the most studied plants is the misai kucing plant. Orthosiphon stamineus Benth (Misai Kucing) is a herbal plant from Southeast Asia, including Malaysia. Several studies have been conducted, and many findings have been discovered about the efficacy of O. stamineus in biological activities, including antioxidant, antitumor, and antiangiogenesis. However, their activity against uterine leiomyosarcoma has not yet been explored. Uterine leiomyosarcoma is a rare malignant tumor arising from the uterus’ smooth muscle. Uterine leiomyosarcoma shares similarities with uterine fibroid, which is regulated by several growth factors which cause excessive menstrual bleeding and miscarriage. It contributes to most hysterectomy cases, a surgery that results in the complete removal of the uterus. This monograph presents the study of the effect of ral extracts O. stamineus extracts against uterine leiomyosarcoma. This study utilized SK-UT-1 cell lines as in vitro model by determining the cytotoxicity and cell cycle effect, assessing the mode of cell death, and evaluating the effect of the extracts on the growth factor via gene expression. From this study, it can be concluded that the O. stamineus extracts possess moderate cytotoxic, anti-proliferative, and anti-inflammatory effects through regulation at biochemical level expression. It also induced apoptosis in uterine leiomyosarcoma cells (SK-UT-1) dose-dependent through the intrinsic pathway. Data from this study can be applied to explore further the potential of misai kucing as an anti-uterine fibroid.