Investigation of anti-cancer potential of acacia nilotica (L.) methanolic leaf extract in A549 and H1299 cell lines

Cancer is a leading cause of death and a significant obstacle to increasing life expectancy in every country in the world. Today, research into various plant-based products is ongoing to develop new drugs for diseases such as cancer. In recent years, various herbal products have shown promising anticancer activity against different cancers. In this context, the thesis study is aimed to investigate the anticancer potential of methanolic extracts obtained from the leaves of the Acacia nilotica (L) plant, which is widely used for medicinal purposes, especially in subtropical geography For this purpose, XTT and Clonogenic assay were used to assess cytotoxicity in lung cancer cell lines A549 and H1299 cells, Annexin-V to determine the cell death mode, Comet assay to determine DNA damages, and intracellular ROS assay to determine DNA damage factors. As a result of the XTT assay, IC50 values in A549 and H1299 cell lines obtained from A. nilotica leaf methanolic extract are calculated as 616.66 ± 11.71 µg/ml and 198.05 ± 14.48 µg/ml, respectively. The clonogenic test determined these values as 212.66 µg/ml and 56.06 µg/ml for A549 and H1299 cell lines, respectively. In the comet assay, tail length, tail % DNA, and olive tail moment are calculated in A549 and H1299 cell lines after exposure to IC12.5, IC25, IC50, and IC75 values obtained from the XTT test. The results indicated a statistically significant increase in DNA strand breaks compared to the control group. The results of the ROS assay showed that methanolic extract of A. nilotica leaves induced statistically significant increases in intracellular ROS levels in A549 and H1299 cell lines exposed to IC12.5, IC25, IC50 and IC75 concentrations compared to the control groups. The results of the Annexin-V assay showed that A. nilotica extract did not induce apoptosis and directly induced necrosis in A549 and H1299 cell lines exposed to IC12.5, IC25, IC50, and IC75 concentrations for 24 hours.