Potent antitumor property of Allium bakhtiaricum extracts

Anti-growth activity of different fractions was explored in vitro on different cancerous cells using MTT assay, Annexin V/PI and SA-β-gal staining, Western blotting, flowcytometric and immunofluorescence microscopic evaluations. In vivo antitumor activity was investigated in BALB/c mice bearing 4 T1 mammary carcinoma cells.

We demonstrated that chloroformic and ethyl acetate fractions exert cytotoxic activity toward MDA-MB-231 cells, the most sensitive cell line, after 72 h of treatment with IC₅₀ values of 0.005 and 0.006 mg/ml, respectively. Incubation of MDA-MB-231 cells with ¼ and ½ IC_50-72h concentrations of each fraction resulted in a significant G2/M cell cycle arrest. ¼ IC_50-72h concentration of the chloroform fraction led to the disruption of polymerization in mitotic microtubules. Exposure of human breast cancer cells to different concentrations of the extracts at different incubation times did not induce apoptosis, autophagy or senescence. Our in vivo study revealed that administration of the chloroform extract at a dose of 1 mg/kg/day strongly suppressed mammary tumor progression and decreased the number of proliferative cells in the lung tissues indicating its anti-metastatic effect.