Impact of Plasma-Activated Water on Breast Cancer Cell Viability

Plasma-activated water (PAW) was generated using a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma system operating with a 1:1 mixture of nitrogen and argon gases to evaluate its cytotoxic effects on MCF-7 breast cancer cells. Water samples were divided into five groups: 0 minutes (control), 5, 10, 15, and 20 minutes of plasma exposure. The resulting PAW was applied to cultured cells, and cell viability was assessed 24- and 48-hour post-treatment. Viability was evaluated using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. The results showed an apparent time-dependent increase in cytotoxicity. At 24 hours, cell mortality rates were 1.9%, 40.7%, 48.1%, 53.6%, and 65.4%, while at 48 hours, they increased to 1.9%, 50.7%, 55.6%, 65.1%, and 74.93%. In addition, apoptosis-related analyses, mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), viable cell count (VCC), and Total Nuclear Integrity (TNI), were used to study the induction of programmed cell death after PAW exposure. Comparative analysis with normal breast epithelial cells detected a significantly low cytotoxic reaction, indicating the selective anticancer potential of PAW. These findings highlight the PAW as a promising, selective, and non-thermal therapeutic agent for breast cancer treatment