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

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 BAXand CASP3genes while downregulated anti-apoptotic BCL2gene. 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.