cytotoxic effects of rheum khorasanicum extract on mcf-7 human breast cancer cell line and odc1 gene expression

Background: polyamine metabolism has a critical role in cancer initiation and progression. the abnormal overexpression of the ornithine decarboxylase ( odc1) enzyme gene could be a characteristic of cancer cells. objectives: the current study evaluated the cytotoxic effects of rheum khorasanicumextract in three different solvents, including distilled water, ethanol, and n-hexane, on the mcf-7 breast cancer cell line and assessed the expression level of the odc1gene upon the abovementioned treatments. methods: we cultured mcf-7 cancer cells in complete cell culture media and subsequently subjected them to increasing concentrations (0 - 200 μg/ml) of the extract. the cytotoxic activity of the extract was investigated using an mtt assay. the quantitative analysis of odc1 gene expression was performed using real-time pcr. results: the cell viability was significantly decreased in concentration- and time-dependent manners. the mrna expression of the odc1 gene declined gradually with the increasing concentrations of extracts. conclusions: our findings indicated that r. khorasanicumextract could potentially influence odc1 gene expression in breast cancer cells and exert inhibitory effects on cancer cell proliferation.