Background & Objectives: Breast cancer is the most common cancer affecting women so that it is the second common cancer (after lung cancer) in women. Vitex pseudo negundo is used as a traditional medicine. Recently, the biological activities of Vitex pseudo negundo plants have been reported as possessing anticancer, antibacterial, antiulcer and antifungal properties. However, the antitumor effects of this medicine have not been studied in cancer cell lines. The aim of this study was to investigate the antitumor effect of Vitex pseudo negundo fruit on breast cancer cell lines.Materials & Methods: Breast cancer (MCF7) cell lines were cultured in DMEM medium. Vitex pseudo negundo fruit was extracted; and different dilutions of Vitex pseudo negundo extract (5mg/mL to 100mg/mL) were added to cell culture. Cell viability was quantitated by MTT assay after 72 hours.Results: The findings indicate that the extract of Vitex pseudo negundo fruit on MCF7 cancer cell lines had cytotoxicity in all concentrations and the highest inhibition was 50 and 100 mg/ml concentrations.Conclusion: Our study shows that Vitex pseudo negundo fruit extract has cytotoxic effects on tumor cells, It seems that Vitex pseudo negundo fruit could be considered as a promising chemotherapeutic agent in cancer treatment.

Recently the quinazoline derivatives have attracted much attention for their anticancer properties. In this study a series of new brominated quinazoline derivatives (1a-1g) were synthesized in two steps. In the first step we used N-bromosuccinimide to brominate the anthranilamid. Then in the second step we closed the quinazoline ring by different aromatic aldehydes. Our aldehydes contain different electron donating or electron withdrawing groups at different positions of the aromatic ring. The chemical structures of products were confirmed by spectroscopic methods such as IR, 1HNMR, 13CNMR, and mass spectroscopy. The cytotoxic activities of the compounds were assessed on three cancerous cell lines including MCF-7, A549, and SKOV3 using colorimetric MTT cytotoxic assay in comparison with cisplatin as a standard drug. Our results collectively indicated that 1f and 1g, exhibited the best anti-proliferative activities on three investigated cancerous cell lines.

Background: Malignant glioma is the most common primary malignant brain tumor in adults. It is one of the main causes of morbidity and mortality in glioma patients, with an incidence of 3-5 per 100, 000 people yearly. Despite advances made in surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, the survival of Glioma patients is less than one year. Unfortunately, chemotherapy is not an effective way for patients suffering from glioma, therefore one of the best strategies for tumor suppression is to induce the apoptosis pathways in glioma cancer cells.Evidence has demonstrated that curcumin induces apoptosis in cancer cells. Curcumin, an orange-yellow component of turmeric, has a polyphenolic structure and traditionally been used for the treatment of some diseases.In the recent years, studies have indicated that curcumin has anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antiviral properties. The objective of this research was to examine the effect of nanocurcumin on the viability of glioma cells.Methods: In this study the human brain malignant glioma U87 cells were cultured in DMEM medium supplemented with 10% FBS. The effect of curcumin coupled with a new carrier was then investigated on the cell line by using MTT assay in different concentrations. Treatment with curcumin was explore by fluorescence microscopy.Results: The MTT assay revealed that curcumin induces a dose- and a time-dependent decrease in cell viability.After 48 hours of treatment with nanocurcumin 50 percentage of cells remain viable.Conclusion: Since Curcumin is able to induce cell apoptosis in human glioma U87 cells in a dose-dependent manner, it seems that this phytochemical might be a potential agent for the treatment of glioma.

Introduction: Propolis is a natural product derived from various plant resins collected by honeybees, and has been used as a folk medicine for centuries. Propolis has been reported to exhibit a broad spectrum of activities including antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, hepatoprotective, and anticancer properties. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of ethanolic extract of propolis (EEP) obtained from Dinaran area (Iran) on AGS human gastric cancer cell line.Methods: The ethanolic extract of samples was obtained by ethanol 96% and pure extract was dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and used for experiments. The cytotoxic effects of various concentrations of EEP on AGS cells were investigated by MTT assay test after 24, 48, and 72 hours and compared with control cells.Results: The EEP inhibited the growth and proliferation of AGS human gastric cancer cell line. The ant iproliferative effects were revealed in a dose and time-dependent manner. The IC50 values were recorded as 60, 30, and 15 (mg/ml) in treatment times of 24, 48 and 72 hours, respectively.Conclusion: These findings indicated that the native EEP has strong ant iproliferative effects against cancerous AGS cells. Thus, propolis and related products may provide a novel approach to the chemoprevention and treatment of human gastric cancer.

Objective: Umbelliprenin is a prenylated compound, which belongs to the class of sesquiterpene coumarins. Umbelliprenin is synthesized by various Ferula species plants used for food preparation or consumed as food such as Citrus Limon. Recently, umbelliprenin has been attracted much attention for its strong antitumor activities. Lung cancer is one of the most common causes of cancer related deaths in both men and women in most of countries. It is among the 10 most frequent cancers in Iranian population.Materials and Methods: To measure cell cytotoxity of umbelliprenin on human lung cancer cell lines including A549 and QU-DB, and murine lung cancer carcinoma LLC1, MTT cytotoxicity assay was performed.Results: IC 50 values for QU-DB, A549, and LLC1 were: (34.5 ± 5.9), (47 ± 5.2), and (47±3.1) Μm respectively, using MTT assay. Data represent the mean ± SD of at least two independent experiments done in triplicate.Conclusion: We found that umbelliprenin acts as an anti cancer compound in lung cancer cell lines in both human and mice cell lines, but their molecular targets are not clear. Characterizations of molecular targets of umbelliprenin using proteomics techniques are Underway.

Abstract Background: Vitis vinifera has a number of flavonoids which applied as antioxidant and anti-cancer activity. The present study was carried out to investigate effects of seed, skin, juice and leaf extracts of five grape species gathered from Qazvin and Kashan provinces on lymphocyte proliferation.Materials and methods: This experimental study was done on grape species of Shahroodi, Bidane sefid, Halvaie, Yaghoti and Ghermez yaghoti drosht. The effect of different part of this grape cultivars on lymphocyte proliferation was measured by MTT assay at different concentrations (10, 100, 1000, 2000, 3000 mg/ml).Results: The seeds and old leaves of all five grape cultivars had high activity on lymphocyte proliferation, but juice did not affect lymphocyte proliferation.Conclusion: It seems that different part of grape plant has proliferating effect on lymphocyte, so it may be helpful for treatment of some immunodeficiency diseases.

Background: Colon cancer is the most common digestive cancer and also the fourth cause of cancer death around the world. On the other hand, many processes can be affected by electromagnetic fields and such fields may have different effects on cells. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of low-frequency electromagnetic field on HT-29 cancer cell line.Materials and Methods: HT-29 and L929 cell lines were cultured in RPMI medium containing fetal bovine serum and antibiotics. Cells were exposed to 50 Hz electromagnetic field with intensities of 50, 200 and 400 gauss for 3 hours. Growth, proliferation and morphological changes were photographed using an inverted microscope. MTT assay was used to quantify cell viability.Results: Viability percent of HT-29 (81.097±2.703) and L929 (89.375±3.672) cell lines in the vicinity of electromagnetic field with intensity of 50 gauss was not significantly decreased compared to the control group. Viability percent of HT-29 (30.807±4.479) and L929 (35.179±4.137) cell lines in the vicinity of electromagnetic field with intensity of 200 gauss was significantly decreased compared to the control group. Moreover, viability percent of HT-29 (18.391±3.091) and L929 (23.046±3.513) cell lines in the vicinity of electromagnetic field with intensity of 400 gauss was significantly decreased compared to the control group.Conclusion: Electromagnetic field with frequency of 50 Hz and intensities of 200 and 400 gauss has an inhibitory effect on the growth and proliferation as well as a cytotoxic effect on HT-29 and L929 cell lines.

Background: Cutaneous leishmaniasis is an endemic disease in some parts of Iran. The use of pentavalent antimony compounds as first therapeutic choice is associated with limitations and several adverse effects and complications. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of aloe-emodin on Leishmania major promastigote growth in vitro conditions and also the effect of aloe-emodin on induction of apoptosis in Leishmania major promastigotes.Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, different concentrations (40, 80, 120 and 160 mg/ml) of aloe-emodin were tested in three different times (24, 48 and 72h) on Leishmania promastigotes and the IC50 was calculated by counting the number of parasites.The MTT (3- [4.5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl] -2, 5 diphenyl tetrazolium bromide) assay was used to determine the percentage of live promastigotes after adding aloe-emodin. Apoptosis at three different concentrations (40, 80 and 120 mg/ml) was evaluated by flowcytometry and also the percentages of early and late apoptosis and necrosis were determined.Results: Result showed that aloe-emodin has an inhibitory effect on the growth of Leishmania promastigotes. The IC50 value was 52.79μg/ml. Moreover, the results of flowcytometry showed that aloe-emodin induced the early and late apoptosis in Leishmania promastigotes.Conclusion: Aloe-emodin shows an antileishmanial effects in vitro condition and regarding its herbal origin, it can be tested as the new drug in vivo studies.

Background and Objective: Chrysin is a natural and active biological component which is extracted from plants, honey and propolis. Chrysin has anti-inflammatory, anticancer and antioxidant propertis.This study was done to evaluate the effect of chrysin on AGS human gastric cancer cell line.Methods: In this descriptive - analytic study, chrysin was dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and the cytotoxic effects of concentrations of 10, 15, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, and 100 mM/ml of chrysin on AGS cells was evaluated. Viability of the cells was determined with MTT assay after 24, 48 and 72 hours and compared to controls.Results: Chrysin inhibited the growth and proliferation of human gastric cancer AGS cell line. The antiproliferative effect of chrysin was dose and time dependent. The IC50 values were determined for 60, 30 and 20 mM, in incubation time of 24, 48 and 72 hour, respectively (P<0.05).Conclusion: Chrysin proved to have antiproliferative activity on human gastric cancer cells in culture medium.

Introduction: Shark cartilage has antiangiogenic and immunostimulatory activity, which inhibits tumor growth. There is little scientific evidence about the effect of shark cartilage on human immune system. Therefore, in this study we investigated the effect of shark cartilage on lymphocyte proliferation and IFNγ production in breast cancer patients.Materials and Methods: After preparing of shark cartilage powder and its distribution in capsules, the drug packages were coded. Test-group patients used shark cartilage capsules but the control group consumed the starch capsules according to the protocol, they received hormone therapy as well.Blood sampling was done before and after treatment period. After isolating and culturing PBMCs, MTT assay was done and supernatant was collected for measuring the amount of IFNγ by ELISA.Results: The findings indicated that enhancing the treatment period in the test-group would increase the lymphocyte proliferation and IFNγ quantity; however, no significant difference was found for the control group compared to before incorporating the treatment.Conclusion: Shark cartilage extract stimulates lymphocyte proliferation and IFNγ secretion which will improve the body's defense against tumor.