AN IN-VITRO STUDY ON THE ANTI-ANGIOGENIC EFFECT OF MAJORANA HORTENSIS LEAVES

Angiogenesis is an inevitable process of tumour growth, invasion, and metastasis. Understanding the process of new blood vessel formation has gained prime importance recently, and anti-angiogenic therapy has now been considered as an important strategy for cancer therapy. Many bioactive compounds, especially of plant origin, have been explored for their anti-angiogenic potential. The present study was formulated to evaluate the effect of Majorana hortensis leaf extract on angiogenesis, in an effort to examine its influence against cancer cell proliferation, invasion, and metastasis. Cell viability analysis in non-transformed chick embryo fibro-blasts showed that Majorana hortensis leaf extract alone exhibited slight cytotoxicity as assessed by MTT and SRB assay. However, in combination with etoposide, the leaf extract exhibited a synergistic effect as evident from the improved cell viability in chick embryo fibroblasts. Using CAM assay, the anti-angiogenic potential of the Majorana hortensis leaf extract alone was inferred from the significant reduction in blood vessel formation. The anti-invasive potential of M. hortensis leaf extract was further substantiated by a scratch assay using breast cancer (MDA-MB-231) cells, wherein the leaf extract inhibited the proliferation of tumour cells. Cell cycle analysis using flow cytometry showed that the proportion of MDA-MB-231 cells under-going early stage (G0-G1 phase) of apoptosis was significantly increased whereas cells in G2-M phase decreased after co-treatment with the plant extract and etoposide.