“EFFECT OF WINTER CHERRY EXTRACT (WITHAFERIN-A) ON HEAD AND NECK SQUAMOUS CELL CARCINOMA CELL LINE” IN VITRO STUDY

Abstract

The high incidence and prevelance of oral cancers in the last decades with the existence of the side effects of the available treatment modalities (chemotheraoy, radiotherapy and surgery) direct the recent researches towards natural extracts to measure their anticancerous effects on different cancers. One of the phytochemicals that was used in treatment of wide variety of diseases is winter cherry extract Withaferin-A (W-A). W-A was extracted from the leaves and roots of winter cherry ( golden berry or ashwaganda) that was used for decades in the treatment of different types of diseases with anti-inflammatory, anti-athersclerotic, anti-oxidant, anti-angiogenic and anti-apoptotic biological activities conjugated with safe biological profile. Its success in the induction of apoptosis in different cancerous cell lines was proved by several previous studies. This study aimed to investigate the cytotoxic effect of W-A on human tongue SCC cell line (SCC25) by observing the possible cellular and nuclear morphological changes after treatment of the cancerous cells with different doses of W-A for different durations compared to untreated cancerous cells. This study aimed also to detect the possible changes in the mitochondrial membrane potential after treatment of this cell line with the selected doses of W-A for different durations.