Anticancer Activities of the Herbal Recipe Benjakul Extract against Human Breast Cancer Cells by Inducing Apoptosis and Suppressing Migration

Background: Benjakul is a Thai traditional formulation and has been reported for cancer treatment. Objectives: In this study aimed to examine the cytotoxic effects of Benjakul extract on suppression of breast cancer cells proliferation and migration. Materials and Methods: Cytotoxic effects were determined by sulforhodamine B, colony formation, ROS formation, caspase 3 activity, and mitochondrial function. Migration assay was studied by wound healing and gelatin zymography. Results: Piperine level was showed the highest concentration in the Benjakul extract. Further, Benjakul extract exhibited cytotoxicity against breast cancer cells with low IC₅₀ equally effects in two cancer cells and further it suppressed the colony formation. The mechanism of Benjakul to induce cells death through activating ROS formation, stimulating caspase 3 activity, and repressing mitochondrial function. Moreover, the suppression of migration by Benjakul was acted on reduction of MMP-9 expression level in culture medium. Conclusion: Our findings demonstrated that Benjakul extract can suppress human cancer cells proliferation along with induction of apoptosis and attenuation of migration by low concentration.

Key words: Benjakul, Breast cancer cells, Growth, Apoptosis, Migration.