Effect of Pomegranate peel extract on expression of angiogenesis stimulating gene (VEGF) in A2780 cell line of ovarian cancer

Ovarian cancer, also known as “The Silent Killer,” is one of the most dangerous cancers for women, which often diagnosed late and incurable. On the other hand, conventional therapies currently have limitations, failures and various side effects. This study was performed to determine the effect of pomegranate peel extract on the expression of angiogenesis stimulating gene (Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor: VEGF) by culturing A2780 cell line of ovarian cancer.

In this descriptive-analytical study, pomegranate peel extract was prepared and then ovarian cancer cells (A2780 cell line) were exposed to different concentrations of pomegranate peel extract (500, 250, 100, 75, 50, 25 and 10 µg/ml) for 48, 24 and 72 hours. Also, the survival rate of the cells was tested by MTT assay and VEGF gene expression was evaluated using RT-PCR.

Pomegranate peel extract concentration of 500 µg/ml reduced the survival rate to 18% in 72 hours (P<0.05). At concentrations of 200, 100 and 50 µg/ml of pomegranate peel extract, the expression of VEGF reduced by 7%, 16% and 19%, respectively, which was significant compared to the control group (P<0.05).

Pomegranate peel extract, due to its numerous compounds and significant antioxidant properties, is likely to reduce metastasis and malignant manifestations by reducing the expression of the angiogenesis agent.