Biology and Medicine

Abstract

Cytotoxic Effect of Selected Wild Medicinal Plant Species from Jordan on Two Different Breast Cancer Cell Lines, MCF7 and T47D

Israa Yousef, Sawan Oran, Yasser Bustanji, Dawud Al-Eisawi and Bashaer Abu-Irmaileh

Background: Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in females in Jordan, it accounts for about 35.3% of all female cancers. Searching for alternative medicine from plants for breast cancer is a paramount importance. No studies have investigated the cytotoxic effect of the plants of Ajuga chia, Micromeria nervosa and Origanum dayi that are belonging to the family Lamiaceae and are growing wild in Jordan.

Objective: To investigate the cytotoxic effect of the A. chia, M. nervosa and O. dayi plant species against two different breast cancer cell lines MCF7 and T47D.

Materials and methods: The aerial parts of the aforementioned plant species were extracted with water and ethanol. Cell viability was assessed using MTT assay, after incubation with various concentrations of plant extracts.

Results: A pronounced cytotoxic effect of the ethanolic extract of O. dayi against MCF7 and T47D cell lines, with IC50=99.4 ± 2.9 and 250 ± 4 µg/mL respectively. The ethanolic extract of A. chia has shown cytotoxic effect against T47D cell line with IC50=200 ± 5.2. The aqueous and ethanolic extracts of M. nervosa did not show any toxicity against the aforementioned cell lines. The three plant species showed selectivity when they were tested on fibroblasts (normal cells).

Conclusion: Origanum dayi exhibited good cytotoxicity against aforementioned cell lines among the detected plant species, so O. dayi is considered a candidate for the development of a novel agent against breast cancer.