Non-toxic antiproliferative effect of Ficus carica fruit extracts on estrogen receptor positive breast cancer cell (MCF-7)

• Main Authors: Gumballi Krishna Murthy, Swethadri, Nor Hidayah, Abu Bakar, Atif Amin, Baig
• Format: Article
• Language: English; English
• Published: 2015
• Subjects: QH301 Biology
• Online Access: http://eprints.unisza.edu.my/7031/1/FH02-FP-16-04864.pdf; http://eprints.unisza.edu.my/7031/2/FH02-FP-16-06317.jpg; http://eprints.unisza.edu.my/7031/
• Institution: Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin

Cancer is one of many diseases of global concern due to its high mortality rate with various therapeutic options but most of them are toxic and this compelled many cancer patients to seek alternative and complementary method for treatment. Plants have been recognised as alternative source of remedy for various ailments as they contain many bioactive compounds. The objective of this study was therefore to determine the antiproliferative activity and nontoxic effect of dried preserved fruit extracts of Ficus carica on estrogen/progesterone receptor positive breast cancer cell (MCF-7) and mouse epithelial cell (3T3). The ethyl acetate, ethanol and hexane extracts were prepared by maceration and then concentrated under vacuum at 40oC by rotary evaporator to get the crude extracts. The antiproliferative effect of the extracts was determined using microtitration colorimetric method of 3(4, 5 diphenylmethyl thiazol-2-yl)-2, 5 diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay. The ethyl acetate has low extract yield compared to ethanol and hexane extracts. The ethyl acetate extract was found to have strong and significant antiproliferative activity against estrogen/progesterone receptor positive breast cancer cells (MCF-7) with IC50 value of 9.8µg/mL, whereas the ethanol and hexane extracts showed weak antiproliferative activity. Interestingly, all the extracts have non-toxic effect on 3T3 cell line. These finding suggest that crude extracts of Ficus carica fruit have antiproliferative effect on the estrogen/progesterone receptor positive breast cancer cells. These may be attributed to the bioactive compound present in the crude extracts. The study also suggests a promising chemoprotective potential of Ficus carica fruit extracts on estrogen/progesterone receptor positive breast cancer cells. Further studies are required to isolate the bioactive compounds of the fruit extracts and establish their mechanism of actions.