Efeito citotóxico de extratos de Smilax aspera em modelos celulares de câncer de mama

Abstract

Cancer is a set of diseases caused by abnormal and disordered cell growth. Among the various organs affected, breast cancer (BC) is the most common cancer among women, and the leading cause of death from cancer worldwide. Chemotherapy is a crucial and widely used systemic treatment, that also causes adverse side effects due to lack of specificity. In this context, Brazil has one the most biodiversity and exploit it is interesting in search for new and less toxic therapeutic products. The present study aimed to evaluate the cytotoxicity of hexanic, chlorophormic and hydromethanolic extracts of Smilax aspera against MCF 10A (non-tumorigenic); MCF7 and T-47D (luminal phenotype) and MDA-MB-231 (basal phenotype) cell lines through MTT assay. Treatments were performed in seven concentrations: 7 μg/mL; 15 μg/mL; 31 μg/mL; 62 μg/mL; 125μg/mL; 250 μg/mL and 500 μg/mL for 24 and 48 hours. The chloroformic extract controlled the viability of mammary tumor cells. The treatment with the highest concentration of chloroformic extract, after 48 hours, was cytotoxic for T-47D, MCF7 and MDA-MB-231 cell lines when compared to MCF 10A. The hexanic fraction was effective in containing only the MCF7 cell line in both treatment times. Our results are promising, and additional experiments are needed to understand the mechanisms of action of the majoritarian compounds of hexanic and chloroformic extracts of S. aspera to treat BC.