anti-proliferative and apoptotic effects of aqueous extract of ziziphus jujube in human thyroid carcinoma cell lines (c643)

Background: ziziphus jujuba, which is known as “annab” or “onnab” in iran, is an effective compound against some cancer cell lines. the present study aimed to investigate the anti-mutagenic and anticancer effects of the aqueous extract of z. jujuba on c643 human thyroid carcinoma cells. methods: c643 cells were cultured in (roswell park memorial institute) rpmi 1640 medium (sigma) supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (fbs), penicillin-streptomycin, and l-glutamine. after incubating the cultures at 37ºc with 5% co2,mtt assay was used to determine the inhibitory effect of z. jujuba on cell proliferation. cell cycle progression was monitored by sub-g1 apoptosis assay using flow cytometry. finally, anti-mutagenicity properties of the extract were evaluated using a standard reverse mutation assay (ames test), which was performed with a histidine auxotroph strain of salmonella typhimurium (ta100) and exposure to a carcinogenic substance (sodium azide). results: the aqueous extract of z. jujuba inhibited the growth of c643 cells in a concentration range of 0.5 - 2 mg/ml and exhibited cytotoxic effects on c643 cells in a concentration-dependent manner (ic50: 1.671 mg/ml). the mechanism of action was the induction of apoptosis in the cells. the results of ames test indicated a significant difference in the anti-mutagenic effects of z. jujuba aqueous extract and controls (distilled water and sodium azide) (1.671 mg/ml) (p < 0.01). in addition, the herbal extract prevented reverted mutations and the hindrance percent was 87.97%. conclusions: according to the results, the aqueous extract of z. jujuba fruit exerted anti-proliferative and apoptotic effects on c643 thyroid carcinoma cell lines and may be potentially useful as an anticancer agent.