Low Doses of Thymoquinone and Ferulic Acid in Combination Effectively Inhibit Proliferation of Cultured MDA-MB 231 Breast Adenocarcinoma Cells

Abstract

Thymoquinone (TQ) and Ferulic Acid (FA) are natural ingredients from Nigella sativa and Ferula asafetida, respectively. Individually both TQ and FA have shown anticancer properties in a variety of cancer cell lines. We investigated the combination effect of lower doses of TQ and FA on proliferation, apoptosis, and cell cycle of a breast cancer cell line MDA-MB 231. Cells were treated with various concentrations of TQ, FA and various combinations of TQ + FA for 48 hrs. Cell proliferation was assessed by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)−2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, whereas cell cycle and apoptosis were measured with flow-cytometry after propidium iodide staining and Annexin-V/FITC staining, respectively. TQ (50 and 100 µM) and FA (450 µM), and all the doses of TQ and FA in combination significantly decreased cell proliferation. 25 µM TQ and 250 µM FA individually did not affect cell proliferation but in combination significantly reduced cell proliferation. TQ at 50 µM caused significant apoptosis, whereas, FA did not affect apoptosis. These in vitro data suggest that in combination, relatively lower doses of TQ and FA are effective in decreasing cancer cell proliferation, and thus have anticancer therapeutic potential. Further research is needed to corroborate these findings in an animal model of breast cancer.

Acknowledgments

We thank Prof. Yunus Luqmani and Ms Princy from the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy for their valuable suggestions. We greatly appreciate Prof. Khalid Khan, Mr Saju Jacob, Ms Smitha, Ms Sauzina D’Souza, and Ms Vidya from the Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine for providing laboratory facilities and technical support.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported and funded by Kuwait University Research Project No. YW02/15, and General Facilities Project No. SRUL02/13.

Notes on contributors

Anwar Al-Mutairi

AR: Designed and supervised the project and wrote the manuscript.

Abdur Rahman

MSR: Designed and supervised the project, analyzed the data and reviewed the manuscript.

Muddanna S. Rao

AA: Conducted the experimental work, analyzed the data and reviewed the manuscript.

All authors read and approved the manuscript.