Allium hirtifolim (Iranian Shallot) as a anti cancer Hamideh Ghodrati Azadi 1*, Gholam Hossein Riazi 2, Seyed Mahmood Ghaffari 2, Shahin Ahmadian 2, Taraneh Javdani Khalife 2 1- Department of Basic Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran, 2- Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of Tehran, Allium hirtifolim Boiss. (Persian Shallot) belongs to Allium genus (Alliaceae family). We investigated the in vitro effects of extract of A. hirtifolium and its Allicin on the proliferation of HeLa (cervical cancer), MCF7 (human, Caucasian, breast, adenocarcinoma) and L929 (mouse, C3H/An, connective) cell lines. Then this study aims at defining the anti-microtubule activities of A. hirtifolium and its Allicin and examining its effects on nerve cell microtubules to investigate the anticancer effects of A. hirtifolium. Our results showed that components of A. hirtifolium might inhibit proliferation of tumor cell lines. This inhibition in HeLa and MCF-7 cells was dose-dependent. The presence of Allicin was evaluated by TLC method in bulbs and the extract of A. hirtifolium was analyzed by HPLC. MTT test was performed 24-48 and 72h after cell culture. A significant decrease in cell lines was observed in HeLa and MCF-7 as compared to L929 cell lines. DNA fragmentation analysis revealed a large number of apoptotic cells in treated HeLa and MCF-7 cell groups, but no effects in L929 cells. Therefore A. hirtifolium might be a candidate for tumor suppression. Inhibition of MTs polymerization induced by A. hirtifolium and its ability to bind to tubulin as a ligand Biochemical Aspects of Herbal Medicine S137 was tested through turbidimetry assay then investigated by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). A. hirtifolium displayed growth inhibitory activity against HeLa and MCF-7 cells with IC50 value of 20 and 24μg/ml, respectively for 72 h. The concentration of A. hirtifolium necessary to inhibit the assembly of MTs by 50% was 96μg/ml. This plant decreased MTs polymerization. We suggest A. hirtifolium can be an effective ligand for cancer therapy.

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