Background: Increasing antibiotic resistance among human pathogenic microorganisms and the failure of conventional cancer therapies attracting great attention among scientists in the field of herbal medicine to develop natural antimicrobial and anticancer drugs. Thus, the antimicrobial and anticancer activities from fruits of the medicinal plant Urginea maritima (L.) Baker that unexplored previously were investigated in this study. Materials and Methods: Fruits of U. maritima plant were collected, dried, ground, and extracted by hot water, ethanol, methanol, and acetone. The fruit extracts were examined for their potential as antimicrobial and anticancer agents using the agar well diffusion method and MTT assay, respectively. The gene expression of some cancer-related gene markers was determined by RT-PCR. Results: All fruit extracts of U. maritima exhibited antibacterial activity against S. aureus and E. coli. Methanol and ethanol extracts exhibited anticandidal activity. Ethanol and acetone extracts displayed non-hemolytic activity and selective cytotoxicity against breast cancer MCF7 cells with IC 50 values that considered as active treatments. Concerning DNA fragmentation and gene expression after treatment of MCF7 cells with the most promising acetone extract, induction of apoptosis was proposed. The expression of cancer-related gene TNF after 6 hours, tumor suppressor genes (p53 and BRCA1), and immune response genes (IL-2 and IL-6) was induced. The expression of antiapoptotic gene Bcl2 in treated MCF7 cells was reduced. Conclusion: Fruit extracts of U. maritima exhibited antimicrobial and anticancer activities. This result may lead to the use of these extracts for treatment of some infectious diseases and certain types of cancer.

Cancer is a worldwide health problem and is the second leading cause of death after heart disease. Due to the high cost and severe side effects associated with chemotherapy treatments, natural products with anticancer therapeutic potential may play a promising role in anticancer therapy. The purpose of this study was to investigate the cytotoxic and apoptotic characteristics of the aqueous Drimia maritima bulb extract on Caco-2 and COLO-205 colorectal cancer cells. In order to reach such a purpose, the chemical composition was examined using the GC-MS method, and the selective antiproliferative effect was determined in colon cancer cell lines in normal gingival fibroblasts. The intracellular ROS, mitochondrial membrane potential, and gene expression changes in selected genes (CASP8, TNF-α, and IL-6 genes) were assessed to determine the molecular mechanism of the antitumor effect of the extract. GC-MS results revealed the presence of fifty-seven compounds, and Proscillaridin A was the predominant secondary metabolite in the extract. The IC50 of D. maritima bulb extract on Caco-2, COLO-205, and the normal human gingival fibroblasts were obtained at 0.9 µg/mL, 2.3 µg/mL, and 13.1 µg/mL, respectively. The apoptotic effect assay indicated that the bulb extract induced apoptosis in both colon cancer cell lines. D. maritima bulb extract was only able to induce statistically significant ROS levels in COLO-205 cells in a dose-dependent manner. The mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) revealed a significant decrease in the MMP of Caco-2 and COLO-205 to various concentrations of the bulb extract. At the molecular level, RT-qPCR was used to assess gene expression of CASP8, TNF-α, and IL-6 genes in Caco-2 and COLO-205 cancer cells. The results showed that the expression of pro-inflammatory genes TNF-α and IL-6 were upregulated. The apoptotic initiator gene CASP8 was also upregulated in the Caco-2 cell line and did not reach significance in COLO-205 cells. These results lead to the conclusion that D. maritima extract induced cell death in both cell lines and may have the potential to be used in CRC therapy in the future.