The Protective Effects of Cichorium intybus L. seed Extract against Cell Toxicity Induced by Bleomycin on Human Non-malignant Fibroblast and Ovarian Cancer Cells

Background and Bleomycin as an anticancer drug causes side effects on normal tissues. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of methanolic extract of Cichorium intybus seed (CI) on antiproliferative activity of bleomycin on human non-malignant skin and ovarian cancer cells. Human non-malignant fibroblast cells (HFFF2) and ovarian cancer cells (SKOV-3) were treated with bleomycin and methanolic extract of CI at various concentrations (20, 100, 500, 1000 and 2000 µg/ml). Their effects on cell viability were evaluated after 72 hrs. The antioxidant properties of the extract was investigated using DPPH (1, 1-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) free radical scavenging. Bleomycin killed normal skin and ovarian cancer cells. The cell survival rate increased significantly in groups receiving 100 and 1000 µg/ml of methanolic extract of CI (101% and 103% in HFFF2, respectively), while it was 82% in bleomycin-treated cells. CI did not show any protective effect on SKOV-3 cells treated with bleomycin. The extract exhibited considerable free radical scavenging activity. Our study suggests that methanolic extract of Cichorium intybus seed with antioxidant activity probably protects non-malignant skin cell against toxicity induced by bleomycin without any significant protection on cancerous cell.