Antiproliferative Effects of Extracts on Normal and Cancerous Cells.

BACKGROUND

Plants are an important natural source of compounds used in cancer therapy. contains potential anti-cancer agents such as alkaloids. In this study, we investigated the anti-proliferative effects of extracts on MDA-MB-231 human epithelial adenocarcinoma cell line and on normal lymphocytes in vitro.

METHODS

Leaves, flowers, roots, and bulbs of were collected and their contents were extracted and diluted to different concentrations that were applied on MDA-MB-231 cells and normal human lymphocytes cell in vitro for different intervals. Cells viability, proliferation, cell cycle distribution, apoptosis, and growth were evaluated by flow cytometry and microscopy. Parametric unpaired t-test was used to compare effects of plant extracts on treated cell cultures with untreated control cell cultures. IC was also calculated.

RESULTS

extract had profound effects on MDA-MB-321 cells. It inhibited cell proliferation in a dose- and time-dependent manner. The IC values were 0.039, 0.035, and 0.026 mg/ml after 48, 72, and 96 hours of treatment with 0.1 mg/ml concentration of bulb extract, respectively. Those values were 0.051 and 0.03 mg/ml after 72 and 96 hours for root extract, respectively, and 0.048 mg/ml after 96 hours for flower extract. There were no significant effects of bulb extracts on normal lymphocytes proliferation.

CONCLUSION

extract has anti-proliferative effects on MDA-MB-231 cell line in vitro. The effects imply the involvement of mechanisms that inhibits cell growth and arresting cells at S and G/M phases. Cyclin B1, Bcl-2, and Ki67 expression was also affected.