The Cytotoxic, Apoptotic Induction, and Cell Cycle Arrest Activities of Solanum nigrum L. Ethanolic Extract on MCF-7 Human Breast Cancer Cell.

objectiveThe purpose of this research was to evaluate the cytotoxic, cell cycle arrest, and apoptotic induction activities of the fruit of S. nigrum L. ethanolic-70% extract against MCF-7 human breast cancer cell.

methodsS. nigrum L. ripe fruit was blended and macerated with ethanol 70% and the filtrate was evaporated. The semisolid extract was then analyzed phytochemically. Cytotoxic analysis was performed using MCF-7 cancer and Vero normal cell by MTT method and followed by apoptotic and cell cycle arrest analysis using flow cytometry.

resultsThe phytochemical analysis resulted that extract contained total phenolic and flavonoid compounds with the level of 1.545±0.080% and 0.212±0.002%, respectively. Glycitin was the highest level of isoflavone compound, namely, 375.0844 mg/100 g extract. The cytotoxic evaluation revealed that the extract exhibited a selectively toxic effect between cancer and normal cell. The extract inhibited MCF-7 proliferation with IC50 value about 40.77±4.86 μg/mL and conversely toward Vero cell at lower cytotoxic activity with an IC50 value of 298.96±27.28 μg/mL. Evaluation of MCF-7 cell cycles demonstrated that the extract arrested the cell cycle in the S phase and continued to the G2/M phase at the half of the IC50 value. The extract induced apoptotic of MCF-7 cell about 43.31% in which this activity was nearly the same with doxorubicin as a positive control (59.14%). However, solamargine was predicted as the most active anticancer compounds by a molecular docking study so that it was suggested to measure the level of this compound.

conclusionIt can be concluded that the fruit of S. nigrum L. ethanolic-70% extract demonstrated cytotoxic activity toward MCF-7 breast cancer cell and nontoxic on Vero normal cell. Solamargine was predicted as the most active anticancer compound. This extract had an opportunity to be developed as a potential anticancer agent to overcome breast cancer diseases.