Study of Cytotoxic Effects of Saffron in MCF-7 Cells

Current therapies for breast cancer are often limited by short-term efficacy dueto the emergence of drug resistance. there has been increased interest in the use ofnaturally occurring compounds with chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic effectsin the treatment of cancers. saffron, dry stigmas crocus sativus l., used in iran asa spice, is known for its anticancer properties. in this study, the cytotoxic and apoptogenic effects of saffron in mcf-7 cells as an in vitro model for breast cancer study were investigated. meanwhile role of caspases were studied in its toxicity. mcf-7 and l929 cell lines were cultured in dmem medium and incubated with different concentrations of saffron extract (100 to 2000 ìg/ml). cell viability was assessed by mtt assay. apoptotic cells were determined using pi staining of dna fragmentation by flow cytometry (sub-g1 peak). role of caspase were studied usingthe pan-caspase inhibitor, z-vad-fmk. saffron extract decreased cell viability inmcf-7 cells as a concentration- and time-dependent manner. doses of saffron inhibited 50% cell growth (ic50) against mcf-7 was 400(mu)g/ml after 48 h of incubation. saffron could induce apoptosis in mcf-7 cells in which apoptosis wasdependent on caspase activation. it might be concluded that saffron could cause mcf-7 cell death, in which apoptosis or programmed cell death play an important role.saffron could be also considered as a promising chemotherapeutic agent in breastcancer treatment.