Evaluation of Antioxidant and Anticancer Properties of Juniperus polycarpos Fruit Extract on MCF7 Breast Cancer Cell

Juniperus polycarpos contains natural bioactive compounds that are used to produce anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer drugs. For extraction, juniper berries were dried for 7 days, then methanol and HCL were added, stirred with a magnetic stirrer, and filtered through Whatman paper after distillation. To evaluate the antioxidant activity of juniper fruit extract, the DPPH method was used, and the adsorption rate of free radicals at 517 nm was read. Vitamin c was used as a standard antioxidant to determine the IC50 value of the extract. MCF7 breast cancer cells were cultured, and the cytotoxic effect of the extract was calculated after 48 hours by MTT assay. To determine the toxicity of the extract, the Balb/c mouse model was used. After treatment with doses of 25, 50, and 100 mg/kg, blood samples were taken to evaluate blood cell count changes. Isolation of the liver, kidney, intestine, and spleen tissues for morphological changes and Histology was performed. The antioxidant inhibitory percentage of juniper fruit extract at a 300 μg/ml concentration with DPPH and FRAP methods was 59.47 ± 2.25 and 63.19 ± 2.09%, respectively, and these values were lower than the standard amount of vitamin C used. 66.9 μg/ml of fruit extract was able to inhibit 50% of the growth of breast cancer cells within 48 hours. Blood and tissue cell analysis did not show significant changes in blood cell count and tissue morphological changes. The results showed the cytotoxic effect of the extract on breast cancer cells. On the other hand, the extract did not cause poisoning in the mouse model and did not significantly affect animal tissues and blood cells.
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