Basharat Ali Malla1, Tahir Mohiuddin Malla2, Susan Manohar3, Narayanan Ganesh1*
1Department of Research Jawaharlal Nehru Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, Idgah Hills, Bhopal, M.P
2Cancer Diagnostic & Research Centre, Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, Srinagar (J&K)
3Department of Zoology Govt. MGM Post Graduate College, Itarsi, M.P.
A BSTRACT
Introduction: Breast cancer is second most common in women and accounts for 23% of all occurring cancers in women. At present, more than 60% of the chemotherapeutic drugs are developed from plants and their derivatives. In the last few years, various medicinal properties of crude saffron extracts have been reported including its inhibitory effects on carcinoma, sarcoma, leukemia, and several other malignant cells in-vitro. The present investigation therefore, aimed to study the in-vitro and in-vivo effects of saffron in C1271 breast cancer cells. Material and Methods: Extraction of saffron stigma was done by crystillization method and 80% Ethanol was chosen as the best extraction solvent. For in-vitro analysis MTT cytotoxicity assay was carried out. For in-vivo analysis female Swiss albino mice were grouped into five groups of four animals each and treated with drug control (Doxorubicin), 50mg/kg body wt. crocin, 50% and 80% saffron stigma extract respectively. One group was fed with double distilled water and used as control. Results: The results of MTT assay of breast cancer cell line revealed maximum percentage growth inhibition by 60% crocin. The Tukey test of one-way ANOVA revealed significant tumor regression in crocin treatment group in-vivo as compared to the tumor control group. The present study suggests saffron as a potent antitumor agent against breast cancer cells.
Keywords: Crocus sativus, breast cancer, C1271, cytotoxicity, antitumor activity