Anticancer and Antioxidant Effects of Ethanolic Extract of Melilotus officinalis on MCF-7 Cells via p53 Activation

Background and Objective: The role of inherited and genetic factors has been approved as the predisposing to breast cancer. There have been different studies regarding breast cancer, but the cure for the disease has not been obtained yet. Therefore, the in vitro study aimed to investigate the effect of ethanolic extract of Melilotus officinalis on the growth of MCF-7 breast cancer cells as well as its effect on the P53 gene expression in MCF-7 cell line. Materials and Methods: The MCF-7 cell lines were cultured at 24, 48, and 72 hrs to study inhibition by dimethylthiazol-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay via ethanolic extract of Melilotus officinalis at different doses (62.5, 31.25, 15.6, 7.8, 3.9, 1.9, 0.9, 0.4, 0.2, and 0.1 μg/mL). Subsequently, the gene expression of P53 by using Real-Time PCR (RT-PCR) was assessed. Group differences were analyzed using one-way ANOVA, RT-PCR results with paired-samples T-test, and p<0.05 were deemed significant. Results: The extract of Melilotus officinalis inhibited the MCF-7 cells and decreased cell growth. The extract inhibition rate was highest during 72 hrs at a dose of 15.6 μg/mL. The MCF-7 cancer cells that received the extract showed a higher expression of the P53 gene if compared to the control group (p = 0.04). Conclusion: The ethanolic extract of Melilotus officinalis has a positive effect on the inhibition of the growth of MCF-7 cancer cells with its anti-cancer effect via increasing p53 gene expression and apoptosis.