Peperomia pellucida Extract Enhances the Cytotoxicity of Doxorubicin against 4T1 Breast Cancer Cells

The use of natural agents in co-chemotherapy to enhance activity while minimizing adverse effect has been greatly explored. Doxorubicin, one of the chemotherapeutic drugs for breast cancer, exhibits serious adverse effects on the normal cells. Peperomia pellucida has potential as an anticancer and antioxidant agent. The present study aimed to investigate the combined effect of Peperomia pellucida extract (PPE) and doxorubicin on triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) cells (4T1). PPE was obtained by maceration in 96% ethanol. The cytotoxic activity was determined using the MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay. PPE exhibited moderate cytotoxic effect against 4T1 cells with IC50 value of 83.86 µg/mL. PPE showed synergistic activity when combined with doxorubicin (IC50 = 0.4 µg/mL) and was less toxic to Vero cell lines (IC50 = 145.36 µg/mL). The findings from this study provide credence to the idea of using PPE in conjunction with doxorubicin as a chemotherapeutic agent to treat TNBC.