Efficacy of Different Solvents in the Extraction of Bioactive Compounds and Anti-cancer Activities of Thymus vulgaris Leaves and Twigs

Thyme contains phytochemicals that exhibit cytotoxic and cytogenic activities. Differ solvents have different abilities in dissolving plant bioactive compounds. This study aims to determine the anti-cancer properties of thyme leaves and twigs, including a profile of bioactive compounds, cytotoxicity, the ability of apoptosis induction, and caspase-3 activation of different solvent extracts on the T47D breast cancer cell line. An experimental study was conducted in eight groups: the T47D breast cancer cell line was treated with thyme extracts as the treatment group and doxorubicin as a positive control. In contrast, untreated T47D cells were used as a negative control. Thyme was extracted by maceration using six different solvents: methanol, ethanol, chloroform, ethyl acetate, dichloromethane, and n-hexane. Bioactive compounds of all extracts were analyzed using GC-MS. Cytotoxicity was investigated through an MTT assay on the T47D breast cancer cell line. The percentage of apoptosis and caspase-3 were detected by flow cytometry using Annexin V-PI and BD Cytofix/Cytoperm, respectively. Thymol, the main bioactive compound in thyme, was found in all extracts. MTT results revealed that six solvent extracts had moderate to weak cytotoxicity, with dichloromethane having the lowest IC50 values at 120.23 µg/ml. All thyme extracts promoted apoptosis in T47D cells with apoptosis percentages of methanol, chloroform, ethyl acetate, ethanol, dichloromethane, n-Hexane, and doxorubicin were 82.67; 80.98; 73.13; 72.28; 60.62; 27.74 and 98.43, respectively. Among all extracts, methanol extract showed the highest apoptosis and caspase-3 activation percentage. We conclude that all thyme extracts had anti-cancer properties in the T47D breast cancer cell line, although the efficacy of each solvent extract has differed. Copyright © 2023.