Cytotoxic effects of Centaurea albonites in AGO-1522, HT-29, A-549 and MCF-7 cell lines

Background: Cancer is the second cause of death in devolved countries and the third cause in developing countries. The most common cancers are breast, lung and colorectal cancer. Nowadays, researches for finding new natural agents with less side effects and lower costs are increasing. In this regard, one of the first steps is evaluating the cytotoxicity. The aim of the present study was to investigate the cytotoxic effects of Centaurea albonitens on AGO-1522, HT-29,MCF-7 and A-549 cell lines.Methods: The methanol extract and petroleum ether, chloroform, methanol and aqueous fractions were prepared through maceration (during three days). AGO-1522, HT-29, MCF-7 and A-549 cell lines were provided in fresh medium from Pasteur Institute of Iran. The cells were treated with 3.125-100 μg/mL of samples for 48 h. MTT test was used to evaluate the cytotoxicity and the color intensity of produced formazan was measured at 570nm by an ELISA reader. The apoptotic potential of the samples was evaluated with Hoechst 33258 staining.Results: The IC50 of methanol extract was 69.7 μg /ml in MCF-7 cells; IC50 of the chloroform fraction was calculated 37.1, 27.0, 25.0 and 25.1 μg /mL for AGO-1522, A-549, MCF-7 and HT-29 cell lines, respectively. Other samples didn’t show considerable effects.Condensed chromatin of the cells was observed for the chloroform fraction in MCF-7 and HT-29 cells and the methanol extract in MCF-7 cells which is an indication of apoptosis.Conclusion: Based on the results of the present study, C. albonitens could be suggested for further cancer studies.

Keywords:

Cytotoxicity , Centaurea albonitens , MTT , Hoechst