Anti-proliferative Effects of Hydroxytyrosol Against Breast Cancer Cell Lines Through Induction of Apoptosis

Abstract

Background: Due to high mortality of patients with metastatic breast cancer and limited strategies for management of this malignancy, development of novel therapeutic approaches and anti-cancer agents is essential. Objectives: In the present study, we investigated in vitro anti-proliferative effects of hydroxytyrosol, as a natural chemotherapeutic agent, against breast cancer cells MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7. Methods: The anti-proliferation activity of hydroxytyrosol on both MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 breast cancer cells was evaluated by MTT assay. Apoptosis percentage was assessed by flow cytometry in the treated and untreated cancer cells. Moreover, the expression of three apoptotic genes (BAX, BCL2, and CASP3) was evaluated by real-time PCR in the treated cancer cells. Results: Our results indicated that hydroxytyrosol exerted an appropriate anti-proliferation activity on both MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 cancer cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. We observed a significant increase in apoptosis percentage in both treated cancer cells compared with untreated controls. In addition, hydroxytyrosol upregulated pro-apoptotic BAX and CASP3 genes while downregulated anti-apoptotic BCL2 gene. Conclusions: The findings of the present study suggested an appropriate anti-proliferation effect by hydroxytyrosol that may be due to apoptosis induction through modification of expression of apoptotic genes in breast cancer cells.