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Published on: August 11, 2022
Coffea arabica Bean Extracts and Vitamin C: A Novel Combination Unleashes MCF-7 Cell Death
Islam M El-Garawani1, Sobhy H El-Nabi1, Samraa El-Shafey1
1Zoology Department, Faculty of Science, Menoufia University, Shebin El-Kom, Menoufia, Egypt.
Background:
Vitamin C (VC) is believed to enhance immunity and is regularly integrated as a supplementary agent during several treatments.
Objective:
The green (GC) and roasted (RC) coffee (Coffea arabica) aqueous extracts (0, 125, 250 and 500 μg/ml) combined with VC (50 μg/ml) were examined on the cancerous MCF-7 cell line and normal human lymphocytes.
Methods:
Neutral red uptake assay, comet assay, immunocytochemical reactivity for protein expression and mRNA expression of apoptosis-related genes were performed.
Results:
A significant (P< 0.05) concentration-dependent increase of apoptotic features, such as morphological changes, and abundant nuclear condensation, altered the expression of p53 and caspase-3 mRNA, down-regulation of Bcl-2 protein as well as the acidic autophagosomal vacuolization in treated cells. The oxidative stress and DNA single-strand breaks were noticed too.
Conclusion:
These results suggest that coffee in combination with VC undergoes apoptotic anticancer pathway. This supports the integration of coffee and VC as a valuable candidate for anticancer research and treatments.
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