Effect of rosemary essential oil on the expression of BCL-XL, an anti-apoptotic gene, in MCF-7 cell line breast cancer

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women, which is treated via several ways. The use of herbal medicines is very important because of their fewer side effects and compounds of the plants can inhibit the proliferation and growth of the tumor. Rosemary is one of the herbs that due to its antioxidant properties can have anti-cancer properties through cellular pathways. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of rosemary extract on BCL-XL gene expression in breast cancer cells.
 
In order to evaluate the cellular toxicity of rosemary essential oil, MCF-7 cells were exposed to different concentrations of essential oil for 24, 48 and 72 hours, and their survival was investigated using MTT assay. Then, MCF-7 cells were exposed to essential oil for 24 hours to determine the BCL-XL gene expression using the Real Time PCR technique.
 
The results indicate that cell death is time- and dose-dependent. The effect of different amounts of essential oil on the survival rate of cancer cells was statistically significant (p˂0.05) and the lowest survival rate at 72 hours was 19%. Real Time PCR results show that the expression of the BCL-XL gene reduced and this reduction is dose-dependent.
 
Rosemary essential oil has cytotoxic effect on breast cancer cells and can induce anticancer effects by decreasing the expression of BCL-XL, an anti-apoptotic gene.