The antiproliferative effects of Marrubium vulgare, and toxicity screening in zebrafish embryos

Abstract

Consider the medicinal usefulness and ethnomedicinal uses referring to Marrubium vulgare; the CH3OH extract of whole plant was investigated for the antiproliferative, effect and toxicological screening. Its antiproliferative effect was evaluated against A549 (lung), HepG2 (Liver), MDA-MB-231 (breast) and MCF-7 cancer cell-lines. Doxorubicin was used as a positive control. Toxicological evaluation of the Marrubium vulgare methanol extract (MVM) was carried out in zebrafish embryos. The MVM showed more effective inhibition against MCF-7and MDA-MB-231 breast-cancer cells. The IC50 value ranged from 43.5 to 223.5 μg/mL. In term of IC50 MVM showed a strong antiproliferative effect averse to MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 in terms of IC50 values (43.5 and 46.5 μg/mL respectively). Lethal concentration of MVM in zebrafish embryos remained 5 µg/ml. The results obtained from zebrafish embryos tests indicates that the extract is toxic at some level and should be used carefully or avoid it during the pregnancy.