Abstract
The Ferula assa-foetida (FA) is the healthy common-consumed anticancer beverage in Iranian folk medicine. In the current study, we aimed to produce a nanoemulsion-based drug delivery system containing FA essential oil (FAEO) and evaluate its antioxidant and anticancer activity on both MCF-7 cells and murine mammary cancer tissue. The FAEO-loaded nanoemulsion (FAEO-NE) was produced and characterized by DLS, TEM, FTIR, and Zeta potential analysis. Radical (ABTS and DPPH) scavenging activity, cytotoxic, apoptotic, and anti-angiogenic potentials of the FAEO-NE were studied by applying antioxidant (ABTS-DPPH), MTT, AO/PI cell staining, and Q-PCR analysis. Finally, its anti-tumor impact was evaluated on murine mammary tumor models. The FAEO-NE exhibited a meaningful antioxidant activity. Also, its significant cell-selective cytotoxic, apoptotic, and anti-angiogenic impacts on MCF-7 cancer cells indicated its anticancer potential. Moreover, the progressive destruction of the murine mammary glands cancer tissue confirmed their anticancer activity. Regarding the FAEO-NE cell-selective cytotoxic, apoptotic, and anti-angiogenic activity on MCF-7 breast cancer cells, it has the potential to be studied as a safe efficient anti-breast cancer agent.
Acknowledgment
This work was supported by, Islamic Azad University, Mashhad, Iran and therefore is appreciated by the author.
Disclosure Statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Funding
This research was performed at personal expense in the laboratory of Islamic Azad University of Mashhad.
Funding
The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.