LC-HRMS analysis of corn mint Mentha arvensis L. for anticancer activity against triple-negative breast cancer targeting inflammatory and apoptosis signaling pathways

Abstract

In this study, the methanol extract of Mentha arvensis (MMA) was assessed for anticancer activity against triple-negative breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells and the metabolomic profiling was determined using LC-HRMS analysis. The in vitro cytotoxic activity analysis showed that MMA inhibited the growth of MDA-MB-231 cells and the IC₅₀ value was determined to be 56.5 μg mL⁻¹. The morphological analysis clearly showed that MMA generates oxidative stress, damaging the mitochondrial membrane and nuclear components of the breast cancer cells. MMA also arrests the cell populations at the G2/M phase and persuades late apoptosis in the MDA-MB-231 cells. western blot analysis displayed that MMA downregulates inflammatory proteins, such as IL-1β and caspase 1, and upregulates the expression of intrinsic apoptosis signaling proteins, such as Bax, p53, and caspase 3, in the MDA-MB-231 cancer cells. The LC-HRMS analysis showed the presence of 76 compounds in MMA, which were identified using the fragmentation analysis. MMA could be an excellent anticancer agent against triple-negative breast cancer cells.