Anti-cancer effect of Petasites hybridus L. (Butterbur) root extract on breast cancer cell lines

Abstract

In this study, we present initial data for the potential anti-cancer effects of standardized Bulgarian Petasites hybridus root extract against breast cancer cells. The results showed that Butterbur extract (BE) caused a dose-dependent selective reduction in viability with concomitant increase of apoptosis in human breast cancer cells after 72 h treatment. We found the highest cytotoxicity of BE to MDA-MB-231 cells (IC50–520 μg/mL), followed by the MCF-7 cancer cell line (IC50–865 μg/mL). At the same time, the extract exhibited very low cytotoxicity to the non-tumorigenic L929 cell line (two-fold higher inhibitory concentration–1252 μg/mL). As a result of our experiments we made the conclusion that Butterbur root extract shows selective high cytotoxicity and nucleus alterations in cancer cells comparing to non-cancerous cells.