Anticancer potential of Pra-Sa-Chan-Dang multi-herb formulation and its synergistic effects with cisplatin

Natural product-based potential therapies offer promising avenues for drug discovery and development, particularly for challenging conditions like cancer treatment. This study investigates the therapeutic potential of a multi-herb Pra-Sa-Chan-Dang (PSCD) formulation, sequentially prepared from twelve distinct herbal plant ingredients, with Dracaena cochinchinensis (Lour.) S.C.Chen heartwood is the main component. PSCD extracts were prepared sequentially and assessed for total polyphenol, flavonoid contents and antioxidant scavenging using standards. Cell cytotoxicity effects were measured across various cancer cell lines, and combination index (CI) analysis was performed to determine synergism with standard drug, cisplatin. Untargeted metabolite profiling was conducted to identify the key bioactive compounds. The PSCD herbal formulation, particularly its ethanol and ethyl acetate extracts, is a rich source of polyphenols and flavonoids, demonstrating potent antioxidant activity. A key finding was the formula's noteworthy selective cytotoxicity with favorable selectivity indices (Selective Index > 3) towards cancer cell lines, indicating its ability to specifically target malignant cells. Furthermore, CI analysis revealed a substantially reduced CI value when PSCD was combined with cisplatin, indicating a considerable synergistic effect that was selectively toxic to cancer cells, thereby enhancing the therapeutic purposes. Global metabolite profiling illustrated metabolic patterns and key bioactive compounds, including brazilin, resveratrol, and coumaroyl agmatine, identifying their presence with the observed bioactivities. The current study highlights the promise of the PSCD multi-herb formulation as novel anti-proliferative agents and suggests a treatment strategy to enhance therapeutic efficacy, paving way for further studies on its most bioactive constituents, mechanisms of action, and in vivo efficacy for clinical translation.