Olofinsan Kolawole A, Abrahamse Heidi, George Blassan P
Laser Research Centre, Faculty of Health Sciences, Doornfontein Campus, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, 2028, South Africa.
BMC Complement Med Ther. 2025 Jan 22;25(1):17. doi: 10.1186/s12906-025-04763-8.
Amongst all neoplastic diseases, breast cancer represents a major cause of death among the female population in developed and developing countries. Since alkaloid drugs are commonly used in chemotherapy to manage this disease, this study investigated the anti-proliferative effectiveness of alkaloid-rich fractions of Senna didymobotrya leaves only and with laser irradiation against MCF-7 breast cancer cells.
A powdered sample of the plant leaves was extracted with 50% ethanol, filtered and their pH was adjusted with acid and base solution followed by partitioning with chloroform and ethyl acetate solvents. Cells were treated with 240 μg/mL of the respective extracts, while those in the photodynamic therapy groups, cells were exposed to laser (405 nm wavelength and 10 Jcm) irradiation 6 h post extracts' administration.
Treatment with the S. didymobotrya leaves alkaloid extracts significantly decreased the ATP concentration and overall viability of the MCF-7 cells. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels in cell groups treated with the extracts and laser light were considerably higher than in experimental groups treated with only the extracts. Moreover, the molecular docking analysis revealed the involvement of only hydrophobic bonds in the interactions of the plant's alkaloid-derived phytoconstituents' with selected cancer protein biomarkers.
Although the in silico analysis suggests that the plant-identified alkaloid phytoconstituents inhibition of estrogen receptor-alpha, human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 and progesterone receptor proteins involved in breast cancer pathogenesis could explain a possible mechanism for the observed anticancer effect, more detailed in vitro molecular experiments are necessary to confirm these findings.
在所有肿瘤疾病中，乳腺癌是发达国家和发展中国家女性人群的主要死因之一。由于生物碱类药物常用于化疗来治疗这种疾病，本研究仅调查了双角番泻叶富含生物碱的提取物以及联合激光照射对MCF-7乳腺癌细胞的抗增殖效果。
将植物叶片粉末样品用50%乙醇提取，过滤，用酸和碱溶液调节其pH值，然后用氯仿和乙酸乙酯溶剂进行分配。用240μg/mL的相应提取物处理细胞，而在光动力治疗组中，在提取物给药6小时后，细胞接受激光（波长405nm，能量密度10J/cm）照射。
用双角番泻叶生物碱提取物处理显著降低了MCF-7细胞的ATP浓度和总体活力。提取物和激光处理的细胞组中的活性氧（ROS）水平明显高于仅用提取物处理的实验组。此外，分子对接分析表明，该植物生物碱衍生的植物成分与选定的癌症蛋白生物标志物的相互作用中仅涉及疏水键。
虽然计算机模拟分析表明，该植物鉴定出的生物碱植物成分对参与乳腺癌发病机制的雌激素受体-α、人表皮生长因子受体-2和孕激素受体蛋白的抑制作用可能解释了观察到的抗癌作用的一种可能机制，但需要更详细 的体外分子实验来证实这些发现。
