Evaluation of the anticancer potential of Iraqi Date Palma dactylifera L. seed extract on breast cancer MCF7 and prostate cancer PC3 cell lines

Date seeds are rich in many dietary elements, antioxidants, and anti-inflammatory and anticancer phytochemical compounds. The present study aimed to evaluate the anticancer potential of Iraqi Date Palma dactylifera L. seed extracts on breast cancer MCF7 and prostate cancer PC3 cell lines. The seeds were extracted with 70% ethanol and explored for the presence of many anticancer compounds by High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis . The cytotoxicity of date seed extracts on cell lines was studied using 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazolyl-2)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. The cytotoxic assay of multi-parameters was carried out to detect the extract activity on valid cell count, total nuclear intensity, cell membrane permeability, mitochondrial membrane potential and cytochrome C release by using High-Content Screening (HCS) assay. The results of HPLC confirmed the presence of caffeic acid, sinapic acid and gallic acid. The results of MTT assay showed significantly reduced cell viability of MCF7, PC3 and control HdFn cell lines with IC50 of 269,325 and 1499 μg/ml, respectively. Analysis of HCS findings indicated significant changes in all tested parameters at concentrations of 100 μg/ml. Ethanolic extract of seeds was rich in many antioxidant compounds and the extract appeared to have strong cytotoxic activity against both MCF7 and PC3 cancer cell lines. The cells of MCF7 were more sensitive to extract than PC3. The viability of normal HDFn cells was not affected by the extract. The study showed the importance of date seeds as a very effective antioxidant and can contribute to reducing the risk of breast and prostate cancer.