Effects of curcumin and ethanolic turmeric extract on growth and proliferation of cancerous cells (4T1)

Introduction & Aim: Turmeric is powdered product of rootstock of a plant from Zingiberacea family. Curcumin is the main and effective material of turmeric which compromised 50-60% of the turmeric pigments. Anti-carcinogenic properties of curcumin in animals have been demonstrated by inhibition of tumor initiated induced carcinogens and phorbol esters. Anti-tumor effects of curcumin in cancers of the colon, forestomach and breast have been published recently. We report the effect of different concentrations of curcumin and ethanolic turmeric extract (ETE) on growth of 4T1 cells. Methods: 4T1 cells were grown in RPMI media with 0, 25, 50 and 75 μM/Lit pure curcumin and ETE. The percentage of viable cells (by MTT) was then assessed. Compared with controls of 0 μM and 25 and 75 μM curcumin or ETE, 68 and 40%, and 82 and 50% of cells respectively, survived. Results: Results indicated that compared to control group (0 μM), curcumin at least 25 and at most 75 μM resulted in survival of 68.14±5.75 and 39.88±1.63 percent of the cells, respectively. Total antioxidant activity (TAC) showed significant differences at any concentration of curcumin and ETE. The highest TAC value was with curcumin 75μM (1.9 mM/l); and the lowest value for ETE 25μM (1.1 mM/l). Conclusion: The findings suggest that curcumin and ETE could have an inhibitory effect on growth of 4T1 cells, possibly due to changes in TAC.

کلیدواژه ها:

Curcumin ، Turmeric ، Breast Cancer ، Cell Culture ، 4T1 Cell Line