Therapeutic Potential of Annona muricata (Soursop) on Breast Cancer (MCF-7) Cells and LC-MS Profiling of Phytochemical Compounds

Objective: The pursuit of an effective pharmaceutical agent to treat breast cancer has posed a significant challenge over decades. This work aims to study the therapeutic effect of the highly regarded medicinal plant Annona muricata as an effective way to treat breast cancer.Materials and Methods: The leaf and fruit extracts of A. muricata were tested for their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, antiproliferative potentials and their phytochemical composition was evaluated by liquid chromatography/mass spectroscopy (LC-MS).Results: The antioxidant evaluation indicated that the leaf and fruit extract had better effects than Gallic acid. The anti-inflammatory properties analysed by protein denaturation method showed 80% protection in the leaf extract and the haemolytic assay indicated a 90% protection, which was better than the Diclofenac standard. The leaf extracts proved to have excellent antidiabetic properties inhibiting α-amylase to 76%, while the acarbose standard had an inhibition of 50%. Further cytotoxic effects of the leaf extract against breast cancer MCF-7 cells showed a dose-dependent inhibition of 88% at a concentration of 100μg while standard drug cisplatin showed an inhibition of 59% at a concentration of 50 μg. However, the standard drug had no significant change beyond this concentration, which gave us a clear indication that the leaf extract had better cytotoxic activity. The LC-MS profiling showed the presence of various phytochemicals such as flavonoids, alkaloids, phenolics, terpenoids, and fatty acids, which may have contributed towards anti-inflammatory and anti-proliferative activity.Conclusion: The ability of A. muricata leaf and fruit extracts to prevent cancers could help prove the plant to be a potential alternative to synthetic drugs.