Cytotoxic Potential of Antioxidants from Tomatoes on Tumoral Cells

摘要

Tomatoes ( Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. ) are known to contain various antioxidants such as lycopene and other carotenoids, which were proven to have antineoplastic activity. The aim of the present study was to obtain and characterize a whole tomato extract in order to show the amount and type of antioxidants contained, as well as to assess the cytotoxic potential of such extracts on the HepG2 tumoral cell line. Tomato extracts were obtained using the light petroleum/ethyl acetate/methanol method and characterized by HPLC. HepG2 liver hepatocellular carcinoma cell line was grown in Eagle’s Minimum Essential Medium (EMEM) supplemented with 10% FBS. As soon as subconfluency was reached cells were transferred into 96 well plates and treated with serial dilutions of the tomato extract. Cytotoxicity of the extracts was assessed using the MTT dye, in comparison with untreated cells and IC50 was established. The extraction method proved to be a very efficient one, yielding significant amounts of carotenoid pigments, including lycopene, β-carotene, γ-carotene and others, as shown by the HPLC analysis. The antioxidants contained by the extracts showed significant cytotoxicity on HepG2 liver hepatocellular carcinoma cell line, being able to visibly inhibit cellular development in vitro. The present study showed the cytotoxic influence that antioxidants extracted from tomatoes exert on the in vitro development of a hepatocellular carcinoma cell line, opening new perspectives for in vivo studies, involving patients with hepatic cancer.