乳腺癌是导致癌症相关死亡的主要原因之一，因其具有侵袭性而知名。随着其高发病率，治疗该疾病需求日益增加，包括使用草药治疗。最近，药用植物，如百里香（学名Thymus vulgaris L.，以下简称T. vulgaris），因其提取物具有抗肿瘤性质而引起了广泛关注。本研究旨在确定T. vulgaris是否对两种不同乳腺癌细胞株具有细胞毒作用。采用MTT试验评估T. vulgaris对细胞存活率的影响。采用TUNEL法确定其凋亡作用。采用免疫荧光染色法确定LC3和Beclin-1的表达水平，并评估其自噬作用。我们的研究结果表明，T. vulgaris在浓度和时间上大大降低了细胞增殖。与减少的增殖相一致，还观察到了凋亡和自噬细胞死亡的增加。T. vulgaris大大抑制了MCF-7和MDA-MB-231乳腺癌细胞的迁移能力，并显著减少了集落形成。本研究首次研究了T. vulgaris的甲醇提取物对乳腺癌细胞的影响。所有这些发现表明，T. vulgaris阻止了乳腺癌细胞发展为恶性表型。可以说，T. vulgaris的甲醇提取物适用于乳腺癌的治疗，包括侵袭性类型。然而，需要进行体内研究以支持这些结果。© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. 欲获得使用许可，请发送电子邮件至：journals.permissions@oup.com。

Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths due to its aggressive course. There is an increasing need for alternative therapy strategies, including herbal medications, to treat the disease because of its high incidence. Medicinal plants, such as Thymus vulgaris L. (T. vulgaris), have recently attracted great interest due to the antitumor properties of their extracts. The purpose of this investigation was to ascertain whether T. vulgaris had any cytotoxic effects on two different breast cancer cell lines. MTT test was applied to evaluate the effect of T. vulgaris on cell viability. TUNEL method was used to determine its apoptotic effect. LC3 and Beclin-1 expression levels were determined by immunofluorescence staining method and its autophagic effect was evaluated. Our findings demonstrate that T. vulgaris greately lowers proliferation, both in terms of concentration and duration. Consistent with decreased proliferation, an increase in apoptotic and autophagic cell death were also observed. The migration capacity of MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells was greatly suppressed by T. vulgaris, while significantly reducing colony formation. This study is the first to look into how T. vulgaris methanol extract affects breast cancer cells. All of these findings demonstrate that T. vulgaris prevents breast cancer cells from developing a malignant phenotype. It is possible to say that the methanol extract of T. vulgaris is suitable for the treatment of breast cancer, including aggressive types. However, in vivo research should support these results.© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.