Determination of anticancer activities of Inula helenium extracts in experimantel brain tumor cell line model

Inula helenium is the plant species widely used for treatment of various diseases in the form of herbal tea in folk medicine. Although the antioxidant and antiproliferative properties of root extracts and the specific compound from extracts of this plant has been demonstrated in previous studies, anticancer activities of the aerial parts of the plant has not been yet investigated on human brain cancer.Therefore, in this study, antioxidant and anti-proliferative effects of aqueous extract prepared from the aerial parts of I. helenium against human glioblastoma cell line (U-87 MG) were evaluated at in vitro experiment conditions. For this purpose, the aqueous extracts were applied to healthy and cancerous cell lines at varying concentrations of 0-500 mg/L. Cell viability and cell membrane damage were determined using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) tests for 48 hours. TOS (total oxidative status) and TAC (total antioxidant capacity) levels were also measured to determine oxidative stress. Besides, apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease 1 (APEX1) test and immunohistochemical 8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) staining were performed to detect DNA damage on samples from cultures. It has been determined for the first time that aqueous extracts of I. helenium in the brain tumor cells show antiproliferative and genotoxic effects depending on the dose given. On the other hand, when looking at the effects on healthy cells, it has been found that it increased the level of TAC and that this plant was reliable, but that it should be used with caution in increasing doses. The results of present research is the basis for the use of I. helenium aerial parts as an alternative to chemotherapeutic drugs used in the treatment of brain cancer and having more side effects.