Cytotoxicity of Standardized Curcuminoids Mixture against Epithelial Ovarian Cancer Cell Line SKOV-3

• Main Authors: Heba Almosa, Mihal Alqriqri, Iuliana Denetiu, Mohammed A. Baghdadi, Mohammed Alkhaled, Mahmoud Alhosin, Wejdan A. Aldajani, Mazin Zamzami, Mehmet H. Ucisik, Samar Damiati
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Österreichische Apotheker-Verlagsgesellschaft m. b. H. 2020-03-01
• Series: Scientia Pharmaceutica
• Subjects: curcuminoids; ovarian cancer; skov-3; free radical scavengers; apoptosis; cell cycle; cell migration
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2218-0532/88/1/11

Herbal medicine has been in use for centuries for a wide variety of ailments; however, the efficacy of its therapeutic agents in modern medicine is currently being studied. Curcuminoids are an example of natural agents, widely used due to their potential contribution in the prevention and treatment of cancer. In this study, the three main compounds of curcuminoids—curcumin, desmethoxycurcumin, and bisdesmethoxycurcumin—were determined by reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to quantify total content in a mixture. Subsequently, the effect of the three curcuminoids, employed as one sample, was evaluated, to study the proliferation, apoptosis, cell cycle, and migration of the human ovarian cancer cell line SKOV-3. The results reveal that curcuminoids inhibit the proliferation of SKOV-3 cells with concentration- and time-dependent mechanisms. The morphological analysis of the treated SKOV-3 cells showed a typical apoptotic phenotype—cell shrinkage and membrane blebbing in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, flow cytometry demonstrated an increase in apoptosis with an IC₅₀ of 30 µM curcuminoids. The migration of SKOV-3 cells was also inhibited, reflected by a decrease in wound area. Furthermore, the curcuminoids were found to have no stimulation effect on the expression of cytokines TNF-α and IL-10. These results suggest that a curcuminoid mixture can effectively suppress epithelial cancer cell growth in vitro by inducing cellular changes and apoptosis.