Evaluation of the cytotoxic, anticancer, and genotoxic activities of Acacia nilotica flowers and their effects on N-methyl-N-nitrosourea-induced genotoxicity in mice

PURPOSE: In this study, two main research objectives were examined: (1) the cytotoxic and anticancer activities of the aqueous methanol extract from Acacia nilotica flowers on three human cancer cells, namely lung A549, breast MCF-7, and leukemia THP-1 cells, and (2) the genotoxic effects of A. nilotica extract and its influence on DNA damage induced by N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU) in mice. METHODS: Mice were orally treated with A. nilotica extract (200, 500, and 800 mg/kg for 4 days) with or without MNU (80 mg/kg intraperitoneally for 24 h). RESULTS: In vitro experiments showed that A549 cells were the most sensitive to A. nilotica extract among the tested cell lines. A. nilotica extract inhibited A549 cell proliferation by blocking the cell cycle at the G(2)/M phase and accumulating apoptotic cells in the sub-G(0)/G(1) phase in A549 cells. In vivo experiments showed that MNU induced positive and negative genotoxicity in bone marrow cells and spermatocytes, respectively. Negative genotoxicity was observed in A. nilotica extract-treated groups only. However, A. nilotica extract (800 mg/kg) remarkably increased comet tail formation in bone marrow cells. Unexpectedly, the absence of antigenotoxicity was observed in three cotreated groups with A. nilotica extract and MNU compared with the MNU-treated group. Astonishingly, cotreatment with MNU and A. nilotica extract at a dose above 200 mg/kg remarkably increased micronucleus and comet tail formation in bone marrow cells compared with the MNU-treated group. CONCLUSIONS: A. nilotica extract possessed anticancer activity with relative genotoxic effects at high doses. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11033-022-07662-0.