Cytotoxic activity and toxicity study of HF8, a poly-herbal formulation

Abstract

Introduction: Breast cancer ranked the 2nd amongst all cancer in terms of mortality worldwide. Objective: We evaluated the anticancer, apoptotic activity and toxicity of the polyherbal formulation, HF8, prescribed by the herbalist in Saudi Arabia. Methods: HF8 was prepared by mixing different proportion of plants namely Rosmarinus officinalis. L, Vitis vinifera seeds, Cichorium intybus seeds, Trigonella foenum-graecum L seeds, Lavandula multifida L., Pistacia lentiscus resin, commiphora myrrha resin, and Viola odorata flower. The HF8 was evaluated for its cytotoxicity using human breast adenocarcinoma (MCF-7, and MDA-MB-231 cells) cell lines. Results: The result revealed promising cytotoxicity on the MCF-7 (IC50: 107 µg/mL) and MDA-MB-231 (IC50: 89.5 µg/mL) cell lines. Further, HF8 was assessed for its apoptotic potential using acridine orange (AO)/ethidium bromide (EB) dual staining and Caspase-3/7. After incubation with MDA-MB-231, the HF8 inducted apoptosis through the activation of caspase-3/7. The toxicity of the HF8 was assessed using zebrafish and Swiss Albino mice. The zebrafish embryos did not show any noticeable toxicities or teratogenicity when treated with HF8 with a concentration from 0.001 to 300 µg/ml. In acute toxicity, no mortality detected after a single dose (5000 mg/kg) administration to Swiss Albino mice of both genders. Conclusions: HF8 extract has the potential for development into a potent anticancer agent against breast cancer, albeit further studies are needed to evaluate the mechanism of action as well as validation of other drug development processes.

Keywords

• Acute toxicity
• Breast cancer
• Poly-herbal formulation
• Zebrafish