investigating the effects of lactobacillus acidophilus and lactobacillus paracasei supernatant on cervical cancer cells

Introduction: lactic acid bacteria, recognized as probiotics, have garnered significant attention as potential adjuvants in chemotherapy for various cancer types, including cervical cancer. in this study, we investigated the anti-cancer properties of two indigenous iranian strains, lactobacillus acidophilus and lactobacillus paracasei, individually and in combination, targeting human cervical cancer cell lines compared to normal control cells.methods: the cytotoxic effect of lactobacillus acidophilus and lactobacillus paracasei supernatants, as well as their 1:1 mixture, on caski and hncf pi 52 cell lines, was evaluated using the mtt assay. the apoptotic and anti-metastatic effects of these supernatants were assessed by analyzing the gene expression of bax/bcl2 ratio, caspase-3, and mmp2/ mmp9 using real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (rt-pcr).results: significant cytotoxicity was observed in ca ski cells attributed to the low ph of the supernatants. the increase in the bax/bcl2 ratio, leading to an up-regulation of caspase-3, indicated the induction of apoptosis (p<0.001). in addition, the expression of mmp9 significantly deceased in ca ski cells treated with lactobacillus acidophilus (p<0.001) and lactobacillus paracasei (p<0.05), while no significant difference in mmp2 expression was observed in all samples compared to the control groups.conclusion: while further validation is needed, the heightened expression of apoptotic genes suggests a potential induction of apoptosis in cancer cells in response to lactobacillus toxicity. the significant down-regulation of the mmp9 gene emphasizes the need for comparative analyses across different cervical cancer cell lines to establish the anti-metastatic potential of these local probiotic supernatants.