Maca Root (Lepidium meyenii) Extract Increases the Expression of MMP-1 and Stimulates Migration of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Cells

Abstract

Maca root (Lepidium meyenii) extract is a worldwide consumed food supplement for sexual dysfunctions, increasing sperm production and its motility, and alleviating menopausal symptoms. Once maca root has a role in cell proliferation and motility, and its consumption may increase along with age, mainly in menopausal women, we aimed to investigate the plant effects on triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) cell lines. Standardized maca root powdered extract showed significant cytotoxic activity in both MDA-MB-231 and Hs578T cells, and the IC₅₀s were 2000 μg/ml and 3000 μg/ml, respectively. Both cell lines showed an increase in migratory capacity. Using bioinformatics tools, we established genes involved in the metastatic process, CAV1, LAMA4, and MMP-1, and the mRNAs expression was assessed by qPCR. Comparing the treated cells to the negative control, CAV1 presented a decreased expression by 2-fold in MDA-MB-231. LAMA4 presented a decrease by 4-fold in Hs578T cells. MMP-1 showed substantially increase mRNA expression in MDA-MB-231 by 86-fold and in Hs578T by 5-fold. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study indicating that the human consumption of maca may be dangerous due to the upregulation in MMP-1 expression and the increase in TNBC migrated cells.

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Dr. C.A. Rainho for the advice and discussion. We also thank Dr. F.A. Marchi for support in open data expression analysis.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Data Availability Statement

The data generated and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Hermínio Ometto Foundation - FHO (No. 2018:26.01.02.51).