Anticancer Activities of the Herbal Recipe Benjakul Extract against Human Breast Cancer Cells by Inducing Apoptosis and Suppressing Migration

Background: Benjakul is a Thai traditional formulation and has been reported for cancer treatment. Objectives: In this study aimed to examine the cytotoxic effects of Benjakul extract on suppression of breast cancer cells proliferation and migration. Materials and Methods: Cytotoxic effects were determined by sulforhodamine B, colony formation, ROS formation, caspase 3 activity, and mitochondrial function. Migration assay was studied by wound healing and gelatin zymography. Results: Piperine level was showed the highest concentration in the Benjakul extract. Further, Benjakul extract exhibited cytotoxicity against breast cancer cells with low IC50 equally effects in two cancer cells and further it suppressed the colony formation. The mechanism of Benjakul to induce cells death through activating ROS formation, stimulating caspase 3 activity, and repressing mitochondrial function. Moreover, the suppression of migration by Benjakul was acted on reduction of MMP-9 expression level in culture medium. Conclusion: Our findings demonstrated that Benjakul extract can suppress human cancer cells proliferation along with induction of apoptosis and attenuation of migration by low concentration.