In vitro and in vivo antiestrogenic effects of dichloromethane-methanol extract of Crateva adansonii DC

Despite significant developments in the treatment of cancer, it still remains the second deadly disease, responsible for 8.2 million deaths every year. Various natural substances have been studied for active molecules of tumor suppression in the past, and the tropical flora, by its diversity, continues to provide new antitumor drugs. Crateva adansonii (the sacred barna) dichloromethane-methanol (DCM-MeOH) extract was previously reported to prevent breast tumors in Wistar rats. However, it exhibited weak cytotoxic effect in human MCF-7 cells. The present study, therefore, deals with the investigation of its estrogenic and antiestrogenic effects. In vitro estrogenicity and antiestrogenicity of C. adansonii DCM-MeOH extract were performed by E-screen assay. In vivo, the investigation was carried out using the 3-day uterotrophic assay in ovariectomized rats, a classical tool for prediction of estrogenicity of chemicals. As a result, C. adansonii extract did not induce MCF-7 cells proliferation, which is an estrogenic hallmark. However, C. adansonii extract induced a significant (P <0.05) decrease in a concentration-dependent manner of the MCF-7 proliferation when co-administered with E2B. In vivo, no estrogen-like effect was observed following a 3-day treatment with C. adansonii extract in estrogen target organs. However, the co-administration of C. adansonii extract with E2V lead to decreased uterine wet weight (P <0.05), total protein levels in uteri (P <0.01) as well as uterine and vaginal epithelial heights (P <0.05) as compared to animals treated with E2V only. These results suggest that C. adansonii has antiestrogenic effects but not estrogenic effects, which might account for its previously observed antimammary tumour effects in rats.