Romanian Society of Pharmaceutical Sciences
 

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ANTICARCINOGENIC POTENTIAL OF HIGH DOSE BORIC ACID ON MCF-7 CELLS: EVALUATION OF OXIDATIVE STRESS AND GENOTOXICITY-INDUCED APOPTOSIS

AHMET BÜYÜKBEN 1, ÖMER HAZMAN 2, İBRAHİM HAKKI CİĞERCİ 3, MEHMET FATİH BOZKURT 4, SEFA ÇELİK 5, LAÇİNE AKSOY 2*

1 Program of Chemistry Technology, Cay Vocational School, Afyon Kocatepe University, Afyonkarahisar, Turkey
2 Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Arts, Afyon Kocatepe University, Afyonkarahisar, Turkey
3 Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Faculty of Science and Arts, Afyon Kocatepe University, Afyonkarahisar, Turkey
4 Department of Veterinary Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Afyon Kocatepe University, Afyonkarahisar, Turkey
5 Faculty of Medicine, Department of Medical Biochemistry, Afyonkarahisar Health Sciences University, Afyonkarahisar, Turkey

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This study determined the IC0 and IC50 doses of boric acid in the MCF-7 cell line, the extent to which boric acid inhibits proliferation at low doses, and the extent to which it affects gene expression in apoptosis. Total antioxidant and oxidant status, the effect on DNA damage, and genotoxicity were determined. The mRNA expression levels of Bcl-2, p53, TRAIL2, and Bax genes related to apoptosis and proliferation, were analysed by RT-PCR. Estrogen receptor α positive (ERα+) and Caspase 3+ cells were analysed by immunocytochemical methods. The obtained data showed that the IC0 and IC50 doses of boric acid increased oxidative stress, with statistical significance (p < 0.05). The IC50 dose also had genotoxic effects. It was determined that the IC0 dose suppressed Bcl-2, p53, and TRAIL2, and the IC50 dose suppressed Bax. It was found that the ERα+ and Caspase 3+ cell numbers in all groups were higher than in the control. This shows that all applied doses increased the activation of Caspase 3, an apoptotic marker. It can be said that boric acid is also anticarcinogenic at high doses.