Effects of zearalenone and α-Zearalenol in comparison with Raloxifene on T47D cells

Zearalenone (Zen) is a mycotoxin with estrogenic effect which contaminates cereals. In cell culture, Zen and its metabolite, α-Zearalenol (α-Zel), stimulate breast cancer cells growth. Today hormone-dependent cancers are important because of high incidence and death rate. Previous studies showed that Zen and α-Zel have an effect on hormone-dependent cancers. This study explains the effects of the mentioned compounds in comparison with Raloxifene as an anti-estrogen. Cell culture technique was used with MDA-MB-231 and T47D cells for evaluation of compounds. MDA-MB-231 cells were used as negative control and also for proving that treatment compounds merely affect, due to their proliferation activity in the applied doses. According to the Resazurine-based method, for toxicity assay, none of the test compounds have an effect on MDA-MB-231 cells but do effect the growth of T47D cells. Zen and α-Zel at low concentrations (10–8–10–9 M) stimulated T47D cell growth and Raloxifene strongly inhibited cell growth induced by Zen and α-Zel. There is a noticeable result in controlling diet of hormonal carcinogenic compounds and applying novel anti-estrogens for prevention and treatment of hormone-dependent cancers.