Cytotoxicity of Hydroalcoholic Extracts of Mentha pulegium L. and Satureja hortensis L. on Human Breast Cancer Cell Lines (MCF-7 and MCF-10)

Breast cancer is one of the most important neoplasms affecting one out of eight women. Despite new therapeutic methods, the breast cancer mortality rate is increasing annually. Medicinal plants are considered important sources of anti-cancer compounds. The present study was conducted to evaluate the cytotoxic effects of hydroalcoholic extract of Mentha Pulegitim L. and Satureja hortensis L. on MCF-7 and MCF-10 breast cancer cell lines in vitro.

This study was performed in the laboratory of Boroujerd Azad University, Boroujerd, Iran, in 2020. After the preparation of hydroalcoholic extracts of Mentha Pulegitim L. and Satureja hortensis L., the effect of different concentrations of 3, 7, 15, 30, 60, 125, and 500 g/ml of both plants were examined on cell lines prepared at the tumor section of the Department of Cell Bank of Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran, for 24, 28, and 72 h. The effect of cytotoxicity was evaluated using an MTT assay. The light absorption was determined at 570 nm wavelengths using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay reader. In this study, a one-way analysis of variance was utilized. The identification of the compounds was performed using the Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry method.

The highest percentages of inhibition of MCF-7 and MCF-10 breast cancer cell lines were found in the 500 μg/ml concentrations of the hydroalcoholic extracts of Satureja hortensis L. and Mentha Pulegitim L.at 96.558% and 88.547%, respectively.

The results of the present study showed that the hydroalcoholic extracts of Satureja hortensis L. and Mentha Pulegitim L. leaves had significant cytotoxicity effects on the breast cancer cell line and prohibited their growth extensively.