Flavonoid Content in Extract Fractions of Morus alba (mulberry) Inducing Apoptosis in A549 Human Epithelial Lung Carcinoma Cells

Background: Cancer is one of the leading chronic diseases with a high mortality rate worldwide. Current statistical studies on cancer from the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2020 estimated that cancer is the first or second leading cause of death. Objective: The current study investigated the phytochemical, antioxidant, and anticancer effect of MeOH extract of Morus alba leaves, superoxide scavenging assay, metal chelating, DPPH, and MTT assay employed. Methods: MTT assay was performed on A549 cells and chick embryo fibroblasts were used as the control. DNA fragmentation and real-time assays were performed to check apoptosis and gene expression levels. Results: Findings suggest that the MeOH extract of Morus alba exhibited a significant antioxidant activity compared to standard antioxidants. MeOH extract and chloroform fraction exhibited strong selectivity of toxicity toward A549 human lung carcinoma cells without affecting normal cells. The chloroform fraction was found to be most active in the MTT assay against A549 cells, while it was less toxic to normal cells. Cells exposed to IC50 concentration for the cytotoxicity study of the chloroform fraction exhibited a breakdown of DNA. Increased expression of p53, Bax, caspase-3 and reduced expression of Bcl-2 gene gave evidence that the chloroform fraction might induce apoptosis. Conclutions: It was concluded that the MeOH extract and its fractions of Morus alba leaves possessed immense potential for tumor treatment. Therefore, it would be necessary to carry out further studies to isolate and identify the active principles responsible for these activities.