Abstract
Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer deaths in women worldwide. Many women rely on plants as alternatives to prevent/treat cancer. Anthonotha macrophylla (Ceasalpiniaceae) is one of this ethnomedicinal plant used to cure cancer in Cameroon. This study was therefore undertaken to bring scientific evidence to this claim. The in vitro cytotoxicity of A. macrophylla aqueous extract was evaluated using resazurin reduction assay in five tumors and two non-tumor cell lines. Moreover, the chemopreventive potential of A. macrophylla aqueous extract was evaluated on 7,12 dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA) induced breast cancer in rats. The research focused on the incidence, burden, volume and histological analysis of breast tumors. In vitro, A. macrophylla extract exhibited cytotoxic effect in all tested cell lines with a CC50 ~ 279 and 132 μg/mL in human (MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231) and rodent breast cancer cells, respectively after 24 h. In vivo, the untreated DMBA-rats presented 100% of tumor incidence, while no tumor was detected in normal rats. Interestingly, a seven-month oral administration of A. macrophylla extract at the doses of 75 and 150 mg/kg BW resulted in a significant decrease of tumor incidence (p < 0.01 and p < 0.05), burden (70.01% and 53.28%) and volume (p < 0.001 and p < 0.01) compared to DMBA rats. The presence of polyphenols in the aqueous extract of Anthonotha macrophylla, as well as its antiradical properties, may account for its antitumor effects. These results therefore support the traditional use of Anthonotha macrophylla against breast cancer.
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Data availability
The data and materials used in this study are available upon request from the authors. Please contact Prof. Dr. Stephane Zingue (stephanezingue@gmail.com).
Abbreviations
- AM:
-
Anthonotha macrophylla
- AI:
-
Atherogenic index
- BW:
-
Body weight
- CC50 :
-
Cytotoxic concentration for 50% of the cells
- DMEM:
-
Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle Medium
- DMBA:
-
7,12 Dimethylbenz(a)anthracene
- DMSO:
-
Dimethylsulfoxide
- ER:
-
Estrogen receptor
- FBS:
-
Fetal bovine serum
- GSH:
-
Glutathione
- Hb:
-
Hemoglobin
- Ht:
-
Hematocrit
- HEPES:
-
4-(2-hydroxyethyl)-1-piperazine ethane sulfonic acid
- MDA:
-
Malondialdehyde
- MCH:
-
Mean corpuscular hemoglobin
- MCHC:
-
Mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration
- MCV:
-
Mean corpuscular volume
- NHC:
-
National Herbarium of Cameroon
- NOR:
-
Normal control
- RBC:
-
Red blood cell
- RPMI:
-
Roswell Park Memorial Institute
- SEM:
-
Standard Error of Mean
- TAM:
-
Tamoxifen
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to kindly thank Professor Tânia Beatriz Creczynski-Pasa (Federal University of Santa Catarina) for her collaboration. Prof. Dr. Stephane Zingue was CNPq -TWAS fellow (Grant no. 190741/2015-5). The authors would also like to thank Alexander von Humboldt Foundation for the material support offered to Dieudonné Njamen.
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TNG, ZS, MMA and DN designed the experiments. ZS, CAP and TNG performed the in vitro experiment. TNG, ZS and MMA performed the in vivo experiment. ZS, DTN, EM and MMA analyzed the data. TNG and ZS wrote the first draft and EM, DTN MMA and ND reviewed the manuscript with editing. All authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript.
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Housing of animals and all experiments were approved by the Cameroon Institutional National Ethic Committee (Ref n°.Fw-IRb00001954), which adopted all procedures recommended by the European Union on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes (CEE Council 86/609).
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Gueyo, T.N., Zingue, S., Mvondo, M.A. et al. Cytotoxic and cancer chemopreventive potentials of the Anthonotha macrophylla P. Beauv aqueous extract on 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene-induced breast cancer in rats. Biologia 76, 729–739 (2021). https://doi.org/10.2478/s11756-020-00607-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/s11756-020-00607-7