Investigation of anticancer potential of hypophyllanthin and phyllanthin against breast cancer by in vitro and in vivo methods

Objective: To investigate the in vitro and in vivo anticancer activities of hypophyllanthin and phyllanthin isolated from Phyllanthus amarus Schum & Thonn against breast cancer.
Methods: In vitro anticancer activity was evaluated against two cell lines (MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231) using MTT assay. In vivo anticancer activity was tested using Sprague-Dawley rats with N-methyl-N-nitrosourea induced mammary cancer. Results: In vitro studies demonstrated a dose-dependent inhibitory effect on cell growth with IC50 values of (35.18±1.48) μg/mL (hypophyllanthin) and (32.51±0.95) μg/mL (phyllanthin) for MCF-7; (38.74±1.24) (hypophyllanthin) and (32.2±1.17) (phyllanthin) for MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell lines. Tumor weights per group at doses of 5 and 10 mg/kg/day for hypophyllanthin (12.82 and 12.06 g) and phyllanthin (11.95 and 8.87 g) treated groups were significantly (P<0.001) lower than untreated N-methyl-N-nitrosourea group (35.85).
Conclusion: Results of the present research work indicated that the isolated lignan compounds, hypophyllanthin and phyllanthin showed significant anticancer activities against breast cancer, in vitro and in vivo.