Abstract
Rosa damascena Mill (Damask rose), belonging to the Rosaceae family, is known for medicinal purposes in traditional medicine system. However, its anticancer activity has not been studied yet in detail. Herein, we aimed to investigate the cytotoxic effects of R. damascena hexane (RA-HE) and methanolic (RA-ME) extracts against human breast (MCF-7), lung epithelial (A-549), and cervical (HeLa) cancer cells. The RA-HE and RA-ME showed more potent cytotoxic effects against HeLa cells with an IC50 of 819.6 and 198.4 μg/ml, respectively. Further, cytotoxic concentrations of most effective extract (RA-ME) were used to evaluate the mechanism of cytotoxicity involved in HeLa cells. A concentration-dependent induction of lipid peroxidation (LPO) and reduction of glutathione (GSH) in HeLa cells treated with 250-1000 μg/ml of RA-ME confirms the association of oxidative stress. We also detected a noteworthy increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and a decline in mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) level in RA-ME-exposed HeLa cells. Flow cytometric data showed a strong dose-response relationship in cell cycle analysis between subG1 phase in HeLa cells and RA-ME treatment. Similarly, a concentration-dependent increase was recorded with Annexin V assay in HeLa cells going to late apoptosis. In conclusion, our findings suggest that RA-ME-induced cytotoxicity and apoptosis in HeLa cells are mediated by oxidative stress.
Highlights
Cancer is the second leading cause of the mortality worldwide and is main health problem globally because of the uncontrolled cell growth [1]
The results showed that all the cell lines responded to cytotoxic effects of RA-ME in a concentration dependent manner (Figure 1)
R. damascena hexane (RA-HE) was found to be noncytotoxic to MCF-7 and A-549 cells, but the viability was reduced to 73% and 42% in HeLa cells at 500 and 1000 μg/ml
Summary
Cancer is the second leading cause of the mortality worldwide and is main health problem globally because of the uncontrolled cell growth [1]. Cancer elaborates uncontrolled growth of normal cells triggered by genetic changes and variabilities, subsequent in the production of malignant cells, and initial of development of secondary malignant growths [2]. There are few reports that reveal that R. damascena extracts and oils induced cytotoxic effects against various cancer cell lines [35,36,37,38]. The cytotoxic potential of the leaf bud and flower extracts of Crataegus microphylla plant of Rosaceae family against HeLa cells have been reported [39]. This study was conducted to investigate the mechanism(s) of cytotoxicity induced by R. damascena against three different carcinoma cell lines, i.e., human breast (MCF-7), human lung epithelial (A-549), and human cervical (HeLa). The cytotoxic concentrations of most effective extract were used to evaluate the mechanism involved in the cytotoxicity against sensitive cancer cells, HeLa
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