Cytotoxic effect of define concentration of Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) extract used in Iranian traditional medicine on AGS human gastric cancer cell-line

Abstract

Gastric cancer is one of the main cancer-related death causes in the world threatening almost 12 million human lives by 2020. Achillea millefolium L. (yarrow) with domestic Iranian name of Bumadaran, has been as a curative plant for several medical conditions for a long time. Its antimicrobial and wound healing effects have been reported and in this study we aimed to survey the in-vitro cytotoxic and anti-cancer effects of this plant. After taxonomically identification of Achillea millefolium L., its hydroalcoholic extract was extracted and the AGS gastric cancer and L-929 normal fibroblastic cell-lines with treated by the different concentrations of extract in 3 time periods (24, 48, and 72 h). MTT assay was performed for the evaluation of cytotoxic effects. The 24 h treatment did not affect cell survival notably, while the concentrations of 64 and 16 µg/ml were determined as IC50 concentrations at 48 and 72 h incubation times respectively. The 72 h incubation time with 16 µg/ml showed the best effectiveness on cancerous cell-line while being safe for normal cell-line. The long-term treatment of AGS cancer cell-line by low concentrations of yarrow extract could be useful for the cytotoxicity upon this type of cancerous cells.