Evaluation Effect of Eucalyptus Sargentii and Doxorubicin on A549 Cell Line in Lung Cancer

Eucalyptus sargentii belongs to the Myrtaceae family of Australian trees. One of the species of Eucalyptus has cultivated in Iran. Eucalyptus extract is a promising natural source of anti-cancer molecules. In this study, Growth inhibitory effects of Eucalyptus extract and doxorubicin were assessed by MTT assay. The effect of Eucalyptus extract and doxorubicin on apoptosis in the lung adenocarcinoma A549 cell line was investigated by flow cytometry. Cell cycle analysis was evaluated by flow cytometry. Level of Gene expression of Bax, Bcl-2 and KRAS were determined by Real time PCR. Our data showed that Doxorubicin (1.5 μg ml-1), Eucalyptus (20 μg ml-1) and their combination inhibited proliferation and induced apoptosis in A549. Level of mRNA expression of Bax was increased while expression of Bcl-2 and KRAS were decreased at 48 h. During flowcytometry (PI) test revealed that the highest apoptosis occured at a concentration of combination of Doxorubicin and Eucalyptus. Thrugh the cell cycle, the highest percentage of cells in the G0/G1 phase was observed in the treatment with combination of Doxorubicin and Eucalyptus. According to the results combination of Doxorubicin and Eucalyptus extract showed higher level apoptosis in comparison with agents separately. Furthermore, increase of BAX mRNA expression indicated proapoptotic function.