Investigating the effect of ethanolic extract of Ferula assa-foetida's resin on angiogenesis in chick chorioalantoic membrane

Inhibition of angiogenesis is the main goal of cancer treatment and other diseases. Ferula assa-foetida is a medicinal plant with cytotoxic effects. The aim of this study was to investigate the anti-angiogenic effects of Ferula assa-foetida's resin. 40 Hy-line fertilized eggs were divided into 4 groups: control, sham, experimental 1 (treated with 100 μg/ml of extract), experimental 2 (treated with 200 μg/ml of extract). On the eighth day of incubation it was created a window in the bottom of the eggs and gelatin sponge was placed on chorioallantoic membrane. 10 microliters of Ferula assa-foetida's resin extract was injected to treated groups. 10 microliters of distilled water was injected to control group and 10 microliters of dimethyl sulfoxide was injected to sham-exposed group. All samples were photographed on the 12th day of incubation and the length and numbers of vessels were analyzed by ANOVA and Tukey’s post hoc (p>0.05) The mean of number and length for vessels in the control group and mean of number and length in sham-exposed group was not significant. There was a significant decrease in mean number and length of vessels at concentration of 100 and 200 μg/ml of Ferula assa-foetida's resin extract compared with control group. According to this research, ethanolic extract of Ferula assa-foetida's resin has an inhibitory effect on angiogenesis in chick chorioalantoic membrane. It seems that compounds of Ferula assa-foetida's resin can be used to inhibit angiogenesis in cancer tissues.