Homeopathic dilutions of Phytolacca decandra induce cytotoxicity of human breast adenocarcinoma cells

Abstract

Breast cancer is a malignant tumor frequently diagnosed in the female population that representsthe main cause of cancer death in women worldwide. Recently, the use of complementary therapiessuch as homeopathy has increased to alleviate the side effects of conventional allopathic treatments.However, the cellular and molecular effects of homeopathic medicaments have not been fullyclarified. Thus, the aim of this work was to evaluate the in vitro effects of Phytolacca decandrahomeopathic preparations on human breast adenocarcinoma cells. For this, MCF-7 breastadenocarcinoma cells were cultivated in the presence or absence of Phytolacca decandra mothertincture (PdTM) or centesimal Hahnemannian dilution (CH) of Phytolacca decandra: 30 or 200 CH.Determination of apoptosis and necrosis percentages, cytokine production and morphologicalchanges were evaluated after 24, 48 and 72 hours of culture in each of the treatments. Resultsobtained in cytotoxicity analyses showed a higher percentage of death in cells treated withhomeopathic dilutions, with similar results to that presented by cells treated with Doxorubicin orPdTM. In contrast, cells treated with homeopathic dilutions of Phytolacca decandra did not showmarked differences in the production of pro and anti-inflammatory cytokines when compared tountreated. Similarly, analyses of cell morphology did not display significant differences before andafter treatment with homeopathic dilutions, when compared to untreated cells. Already, cells treatedwith PdTM presented marked cellular alterations with observation of apoptotic bodies in the threeevaluated times. Together, results show that homeopathic dilutions of Phytolacca decandra inducedcytotoxicity of human breast adenocarcinoma cells in the absence of inflammatory process.