Genistein: A Preliminary In Vitro Evaluation on IMR-32 Neuroblastoma Cells

Neuroblastoma (NB) is a frequent pathology among children with a serious prognosis. Although there is currently a chemotherapeutic treatment, over the years resistance to existing therapy has developed, necessitating new therapeutic approaches. The current study aimed to evaluate in vitro genistein (GEN) on human neuroblastoma cells-IMR-32, a possible candidate for treating NB. The results indicated that GEN does not affect healthy cells (HaCaT), but has a cytotoxic effect on tumor cells, at concentrations of 50 and 75µM, significantly reducing viability. Moreover, depending on the dose, GEN degraded the cell membrane by releasing LDH and caused changes in the cell shape as well as at the nuclear level similar to apoptosis. The data provide an important perspective on the therapeutic effect of GEN at the NB level, opening the way to new directions in treating this pathology with natural compounds.