Abstract
Despite the availability of anticancer drugs, breast cancer remains the most death-causing tumor-related disease in women. Hence, there is a need for discovery and development of efficient alternative drugs, and sources such as plants need to be explored. In this study, antioxidant capacities and inhibitory effects against MCF7 cells of the extracts of stem bark of three Nigerian medicinal plants (Detarium microcarpum, Guiera senegalensis, and Cassia siamea) were investigated. The D. microcarpum extracts had the highest antioxidant and antiproliferative effects, followed by that of G. senegalensis, and the C. siamea extracts had minimal effects. The IC50 values of the methanol and aqueous extracts from the three plants that inhibited the proliferation of MCF7 cells ranged from 78–> 500 μg/ml. Moreover, all the plant extracts but the aqueous extract of Cassia siamea exhibited antimetastatic action and induced apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in MCF7 cells. Liquid chromatography/time-of-flight/mass spectrometry profiling revealed that the five potent extracts contain many phenols and omega-6 fatty acids, and some of the identified compounds (isorhamnetin, eupatorin, alpinumisoflavone, procyanidin B3, syringin, and gallic acid) have been reported to have antiproliferative effects on cancer cells. Hence, the stem bark of these plants could be potential sources of antibreast cancer agents.
Highlights
Breast cancer is the most death-causing tumor-related disease in females [1]
Voucher numbers were allocated to the plant samples as follows: Detarium microcarpum (3105), Cassia siamea (900078), and Guiera senegalensis (900103), and plant samples were deposited at the University Herbarium
The antioxidant capacities of the plant extracts were quantitatively determined using DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging tests because the ability to quench or suppress reactive oxygen species and free radicals in living organisms is crucial for treatment of many diseases such as cancer, hypertension, and other oxidative stress-related illnesses
Summary
About 70% of breast tumors are estrogen receptor positive, and the percentage is higher among older females [2]. The persistence of this major health problem is due to many factors, including the growing resistance of breast cancer cells to conventional drugs, the highly metastatic nature of the tumors, and the high cost of anticancer drugs, which makes them inaccessible to poor patients. Cassia siamea, and Guiera senegalensis are popular medicinal plants in West Africa. The bark of these plants is used as medicine to treat diseases in Nigeria and other West African countries.
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