Journal of Environmental Treatment Techniques 2021, Volume 9, Issue 1, Pages: 196-202 196 The Anti-Cancer Property of Mumie as Natural Product on Human Cervical Cancer Cell Line (HeLa) Azin Tavassoli, Malihezaman Monsefi Biology Department, College of Sciences, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran Received: 15/08/2020 Accepted: 25/10/2020 Published: 20/06/2021 Abstract Mumie is a natural component found in some mountains, such as the Himalayas, as well as in some mountainous of Iran. It contains of humic and phenolic compounds that have antioxidant and anti-cancer properties. Therefore, in this study, anti-cancer and antioxidant properties of mumie were examined on Human Cervical Cancer Cell Line (HeLa). HeLa cells and normal fibroblasts (NIH) were cultured in DMEM/F12 with mumie at concentrations of 0, 100, 200, 300, 400, 500 and 1000 μg/ml for 24 and 48 h. The bioviability of these cells were evaluated using MTT assay. Chromatin condensation and apoptosis of these cells were examined using acridine orange and aniline blue staining respectively. Antioxidant property of mumie on NIH cells was evaluated by 10 mM H2O2 and neutral red test. MTT assay revealed bioviability of HeLa cells decreased but chromatin condensation increased in concentration of 100 μg/ml mumie treated culture. Apoptosis of the HeLa cells were observed in 100 μg/ml mumie treated culture. Mumie did not affect the bioviability, chromatin condensation and apoptosis of NIH cells but 500 and 1000 μg/ml concentrations were toxic and induced cell death. The cell cultures in different concentrations of mumie after 24and 48 h showed the similar results. NIH cells bioviability increased in 500 and 1000 μg/ml concentrations of co-culture of H2O2 and mumie that confirmed the antioxidant property. It concluded that even low concentrations of mumie could destroy HeLa cells without any side effect on normal cells. Therefore, it can be used for cervical cancer treatment but further research is needed. Keywords: Apoptosis, Cervical cancer, Mumie 1 Introduction 1 Cancer burden rise to 18.1 million infection and 9.6 million deaths worldwide in 2018 (1). Common cancer treatments such as chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and hormone therapy have numerous side effects. Some typical side effects of chemotherapy are vomiting, constipation or diarrhea and hair loss (2). In recent years, increasing the new cases of cervical cancer among all types of cancer has become a major medical concern. However, the treatment of intermittent cervical cancer disease remains ineffectual to a great extent (3). Consequently, researchers are attempting to find more effective remedies to cure this type of cancer. One of the approaches that has been taken into consideration of numerous scientists today, is the utilization of natural compounds like herbs. The use of herbs in disease treatment has existed for thousands of years in many parts of the world. Plants are one of the most important natural sources for cancer treatment because many of them are capable to inducing apoptosis pathway and blocked in cancer cells (4). Approximately, 50 % of the modern anticancer drugs have been originated from the natural products. Therefore, the use of natural products in the development of new drugs has been a great interest for researchers. For the cancer treatment, Traditional Chinese Medicine has been used natural products as adjuvant therapy in conjunction with chemotherapy and radiotherapy for inhibiting the toxic effects of the treatments, as well as improving overall efficacy (5, 6). Mumie is one of Correspondence author: Monsefi Malihezaman, Prof. of Anatomy, Biology Department, College of Sciences, Shiraz University Shiraz-Iran. Tel: 0098-713-3167357, Fax: 0098-713-2280916, Email address: monsefi.g@gmail.com and monsefi@susc.ac.ir. the natural substances that individuals have utilized as a healing compound for a long time. It is a brownish, rocky exudate found in some mountainous areas. The chemical content of the mumie is mostly originated from organic humic substances and plants (7). Other mumie components include phenolic compounds and some minerals such as fatty acids, albumin, sterols, amino acids, 3,4 benzocoumarin, aromatic carboxylic acids and polyphenols. The efficacy of mumie has been proven for treating diseases such as anemia, diabetes, high cholesterol, joint and bone disorders, and chronic pain (8). Also, it mainly used to treat people with weakness, inflammation, bone fracture, bleeding and wound healing (9). Based on (10) administration of 200–600 mg/dose of shilajit in mice results in morphological and phagocytotic changes in peritoneal macrophages. (11) showed that shilajit can diminish gastric ulcer record by increasing mucus barrier. They also proved that shilajit has anti-inflammatory effect in carrageenan-induced acute pedal edema, granuloma pouch and adjuvant-induced arthritis in rats. There are many researches for healing effects of mumie in bone fracture. Also, some researcher has been reported anti-cancer property of mumie but we did not found its effect on cervical cancer. Considering the potency of mumie in curing all above mentioned medical complications, the aim of the present study was to investigate the anti-cancer properties of mumie on human cervical cancer cells (HeLa). Journal web link: http://www.jett.dormaj.com https://doi.org/10.47277/JETT/9(1)202 J. Environ. Treat. Tech. ISSN: 2309-1185