Investigation of the effect of blueberry (Vaccinium myrtillus) extract on MDA-MB-231 cell line

Cancer, which has become a common disease today, is one of the most important chronic health problems. According to the World Health Organization reports, 18.1 million people were diagnosed with cancer annually, and 9.6 million people died due to cancer in 2018. Today, in the current treatments against cancer; There are chemotherapy, radiotherapy, surgery and chemically produced drugs. Despite the rapid developments in diagnostic methods and treatments, resistance to drugs and metastasis are the main obstacles to successful treatment. Therefore, the focus is on the use of alternative treatments and therapies against cancer. In this study, the effects of extracts obtained from blueberry fruit obtained from Artvin province on MDA-MB-231 cells were investigated. Pilot studies were carried out using 40, 80, 100, 200 µl doses of blueberry extracts. As a result, doses of 40 and 80 µl were determined as effective doses. In order to examine the effect of determined doses on MDA-MB231 cells in vitro, cells were subjected to two different assays, Annexin V and cell cycle, after 24 and 48 hours of culture period. In our study, it was concluded that blueberry extracts increased apoptosis in 40 µl and 80 µl at the end of 24 and 48 hours of culture on MDA-MB-231 cells, had a cytotoxic (cell-killing) effect and reduced cell proliferation. These results are similar to the results of other studies on blueberry. According to our study, we think that blueberry fruit may be a suitable therapeutic agent candidate against cancer and this research will contribute to cancer research.