IN VİTRO ANTİTUMOR EFFECTS OF A NEW CULTİVAR (GÜRARSLAN) OF TRİGONELLA FOENUM GRAECUM   L.

Background: The main goals of our study were as follows: (1) to investigate whether the methanolic extract of the new cultivar (Gürarslan) of Trigonella foenum graecum L. seeds exhibit antiproliferative effects on the HeLa human cervix carcinoma, Mat-LyLu rat prostate carcinoma and 3T3 embryonic mouse fibroblast cell lines, (2) to determine how mitosis and DNA synthesis are affected in cancer cells by the extract, and (3) to observe the changes in cell morphology after treatment with the extract.
Materials and Methods: The effect on cell proliferation of these extracts was detected by using methyl thiazolyl diphenyl tetrazolium (MTT) assay. Mitotic index and labelling index was determined using the Feulgen staining and autoradiography methods, respectively.
Results: Our findings show that the methanolic extract of T. foenum graecum seeds might have antiproliferative properties on the cancer cell lines only, but not on the 3T3 embryonic mouse fibroblast cell line.
Conclusion: Our data show that the new variety of T. foenum graecum may have antitumoral properties.

Keywords
Anticancer effect; Cancer; Fenugreek; Cultivar Gürarslan; Plant extract