Biological activity of Haematoxylum brasiletto in MCF7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell lines

Haematoxylum brasiletto (Fabaceae) is a wild plant from Guerrero, used in traditional medicine. However, there is little scientific information about anti-migratory and antioxidant activities. The aim of this study was to evaluate the anti-migratory and anti-proliferative activities of the ethanolic extract of heartwood of H. brasiletto (HB) and their fractions of hexane (HBA) dichloromethane (HBB) and ethyl acetate (HBC) against different breast cancer cell lines. Additionally, we analyzed their antioxidant activity. The antiproliferative activity of ethanolic extract and their fractions were evaluated against the non-tumorigenic mammary epithelial cell line MCF10A and the cancer cell lines MCF7 and MDA-MB-231 by MTT assay, using concentrations of 3.1 to 25 μg/mL for 48 h. The anti-migratory activity was evaluated by the scratch wound-healing assay. Phenolic content (TPC) was quantified by the Folin-Ciocalteu assay, and flavonoid content (TFC) was investigated using the AlCl₃ assay. Antioxidant activity was evaluated through the DPPH, trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC), and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) methods. Our results showed that HB (258.6mg GAE/g) presented the higher amount of TPC. For TFC, we found that HBC (53.0 mg QE/g) presented the higher content. Antioxidant evaluation results evidenced that HBC [DPPH IC₅₀: 57 μg/mL; TEAC: 61.4 μM TE/g; FRAP: 2678.2 μM Fe(II)/g] exhibited the most remarkable capacity to stabilize free radicals and reduce metals. On the other hand, HBB was the one who presented the most anti-proliferative and anti-migratory activities on MCF7. In addition, extract and fractions was less cytotoxic against the non-cancerous MCF1710 A cells, which may be associated with their selectivity against cancer cells. To our knowledge, this is the first study that reports the activity of the H. brasiletto plant. Besides, H. brasiletto extracts and their fractions showed an interesting anti-proliferative, anti-migratory activity, and antioxidant potential, which could be considered as a natural source of antioxidants and anti-cancer compounds.