Evaluation of the anticancer potential of six herbs against a hepatoma cell line

Background

Six herbs in the Plant Genetics Conservation Project that have been used as complementary medicines were chosen on the basis of their medicinal value, namely Terminalia mucronata, Diospyros winitii, Bridelia insulana, Artabotrys harmandii, Terminallia triptera, and Croton oblongifolius. This study aims to evaluate the potential anticancer activity of 50% ethanol-water extracts of these six herbs.

Methods

Fifty percent ethanol-water crude extracts of the six herbs were prepared. The cytotoxicity of the herbal extracts relative to that of melphalan was evaluated using a hepatoma cell line (HepG2), and examined by neutral red assays and apoptosis induction by gel electrophoresis and flow cytometry after 24 h.

Results

A significant difference was found between the cytotoxicity of the 50% ethanol-water crude extracts and melphalan (P = 0.000). The 50% ethanol-water crude extracts of all six herbs exhibited cytotoxicity against HepG2 cells, with IC₅₀ values ranging from 100 to 500 μg/mL. The extract of T. triptera showed the highest cytotoxicity with an IC₅₀ of 148.7 ± 12.3 μg/mL, while melphalan had an IC₅₀ of 39.79 ± 7.62 μg/mL. The 50% ethanol-water crude extracts of D. winitii and T. triptera, but not A. harmandii, produced a DNA ladder. The 50% ethanol-water crude extracts of D. winitii, T. triptera, and A. harmandii induced apoptosis detected by flow cytometry.

Conclusion

The 50% ethanol-water crude extracts of D. winitii, T. triptera, and A. harmandii showed anticancer activity in vitro.

FTIR microspectroscopy discriminates anticancer action on human leukemic cells by extracts of Pinus kesiya; Cratoxylum formosum ssp. pruniflorum and melphalan

Apoptosis is the principal molecular goal of chemotherapeutics for effective anticancer action. We studied the effect of 50% ethanolic-water extracts of Pinus kesiya, Cratoxylum formosum ssp. pruniflorum and melphalan on cytotoxicity and apoptosis induction for human leukemic U937 cells, and explored the mode of action using FTIR microspectroscopy. The number of viable U937 cells in vitro was decreased in a concentration-dependent manner by all tested compounds, although potency differed between the U937 and Vero cells. Melphalan and the extract of C. formosum exhibited relatively lower IC(50) values (15.0 ± 1.0 and 82.7 ± 3.2 μg/mL respectively) and higher selectivity (selective index>3) than the extract of P. kesiya (299.0 ± 5.2 μg/mL; selective index<3) on the U937 cells. All three compounds significantly induced apoptosis through the late stage - seen by the indicative DNA ladder - with the most effective being melphalan, then the P. kesiya and C. formosum extracts. FTIR microspectroscopy revealed that all three compounds raised the intensity of the β-pleated sheet - higher than that of the untreated U937 cells - corresponding to a shift in the α-helix band associated with an alteration in the secondary structure of the protein band, confirming induction of apoptosis via pro-apoptotic proteins. The differences in intensity of the FTIR bands associated with lipids, proteins and nucleic acids were responsible for discrimination of the anticancer mode of action of each of the three compounds. The FTIR data suggest that the two plant extracts possessed anticancer activity with a different mode of action than melphalan.

Cytotoxic and apoptotic effects of six herbal plants against the human hepatocarcinoma (HepG2) cell line

Background

Six plants from Thailand were evaluated for their cytotoxicity and apoptosis induction in human hepatocarcinoma (HepG2) as compared to normal African green monkey kidney epithelial cell lines.

Methods

Ethanol-water crude extracts of the six plants were tested with neutral red assay for their cytotoxicity after 24 hours of exposure to the cells. Apoptotic induction was tested in the HepG2 cells with diamidino-2-phenylindole staining. DNA fragmentation, indicative of apoptosis, was analyzed with agarose gel electrophoresis. Alkylation, indicative of DNA damage, was also evaluated in vitro by 4-(4'-nitrobenzyl) pyridine assay.

Results

The extract of Pinus kesiya showed the highest selectivity (selectivity index = 9.6) and potent cytotoxicity in the HepG2 cell line, with an IC₅₀ value of 52.0 ± 5.8 μg/ml (mean ± standard deviation). Extract of Catimbium speciosum exerted cytotoxicity with an IC₅₀ value of 55.7 ± 8.1 μg/ml. Crude extracts from Glochidion daltonii, Cladogynos orientalis, Acorus tatarinowii and Amomum villosum exhibited cytotoxicity with IC₅₀ values ranging 100-500 μg/ml. All crude extracts showed different alkylating abilities in vitro. Extracts of P. kesiya, C. speciosum and C. orientalis caused nuclei morphological changes and DNA laddering.

Conclusion

The extracts of C. speciosum, C. orientalis and P. kesiya induced apoptosis. Among the three plants, P. kesiya possessed the most robust anticancer activity, with specific selectivity against HepG2 cells.

Antihypertensive and antioxidant effects of dietary black sesame meal in pre-hypertensive humans

BACKGROUND

It has been known that hypertension is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD). CVD is the major cause of morbidity and mortality in developed and developing countries. Elevation of blood pressure (BP) increases the adverse effect for cardiovascular outcomes. Prevention of increased BP plays a crucial role in a reduction of those outcomes, leading to a decrease in mortality. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of dietary black sesame meal on BP and oxidative stress in individuals with prehypertension.

METHODS

Twenty-two women and eight men (aged 49.8 ± 6.6 years) with prehypertension were randomly divided into two groups, 15 subjects per group. They ingested 2.52 g black sesame meal capsules or placebo capsules each day for 4 weeks. Blood samples were obtained after overnight fasting for measurement of plasma lipid, malondialdehyde (MDA) and vitamin E levels. Anthropometry, body composition and BP were measured before and after 4-week administration of black sesame meal or a placebo.

RESULTS

The results showed that 4-week administration of black sesame meal significantly decreased systolic BP (129.3 ± 6.8 vs. 121.0 ± 9.0 mmHg, P < 0.05) and MDA level (1.8 ± 0.6 vs. 1.2 ± 0.6 μmol/L, P < 0.05), and increased vitamin E level (29.4 ± 6.0 vs. 38.2 ± 7.8 μmol/L, P < 0.01). In the black sesame meal group, the change in SBP tended to be positively related to the change in MDA (R = 0.50, P = 0.05), while the change in DBP was negatively related to the change in vitamin E (R = -0.55, P < 0.05). There were no correlations between changes in BP and oxidative stress in the control group.

CONCLUSIONS

These results suggest the possible antihypertensive effects of black sesame meal on improving antioxidant status and decreasing oxidant stress. These data may imply a beneficial effect of black sesame meal on prevention of CVD.

Changes in phenolic acids and antioxidant activity in Thai rice husk at five growth stages during grain development

Soluble and bound phenolic acids were isolated from Thai rice husk samples at five growth stages during grain development, and their antioxidant activities were evaluated. The results showed that ferulic acid was the major soluble phenolic acid in husk at all stages, and its concentration decreased steadily during grain development. The ratio of ferulic to p-coumaric acid was approximately 2:1 at all stages. The most abundant bound phenolic acid in all extracts was p-coumaric acid, followed by ferulic acid along with traces of syringic, vanilic, and p-hydroxybenzoic acids. Most of the antioxidant activities of soluble and bound phenolic acids in husk extracts were found at flowering stage, and there were high correlations of antioxidant activity to levels of soluble ferulic, gallic, and p-coumaric acids.

Synthesis of Bioreductive Esters from Fungal Compounds

Four new bioreductive esters (7-10) have been synthesized. Their structures composed of trimethyl lock containing quinone propionic acid with an ester linkage to the fungal cytotoxic compounds; preussomerin G (1), preussomerin I (2), phaseolinone (3) and phomenone (4). The synthesized esters are aimed to act via reductive activation specifically at the cancer cells, resulting from hypoxia and overexpression of reductases. Hence, the toxicity will be lessened during distribution across the normal cells. The anticancer activity was determined in cancer cell lines with reported reductase i.e., BC-1 cells and NCI-H187 as well as in non-reductase containing cancer cells; KB cells. When considering each cell lines, result showed that structure modification giving to 7-10 led to less cytotoxicity than their parent compounds (1-4). Both 7 and 8 were strongly cytotoxic (IC50 < or = 5 microg/ml) to NCI-H187, whereas 9 and 10 were moderately cytotoxic (IC50 = 6-10 microg/ml) to BC-1 cells. Additional study of stability of represented phenolic ester (8) and an alcoholic ester (9) were performed. Result illustrated that both 8 and 9 were stable in the presence of esterase. Therefore, the cytotoxicity of the synthesized compounds (8-10) might be due to partial bioreductive activation in the cancer cells.

Biocompatible nanotemplate-engineered nanoparticles containing gadolinium: stability and relaxivity of a potential MRI contrast agent

In this article, we use a nanotemplate engineering approach to prepare biodegradable nanoparticles composed of FDA-approved materials and possessing accessible gadolinium (Gd) atoms and demonstrate their potential as a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) contrast agent. Nanoparticles containing dimyristoyl phosphoethanolamine diethylene triamine penta acetate (PE-DTPA) were prepared using 3.5 mg of Brij 78, 2.0 mg of emulsifying wax and 0.5 mg of PE-DTPA/ml from a microemulsion precursor. After the addition of GdCl3, the presence of Gd on the surface of nanoparticles was characterized using inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy and Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy (STEM). The in vitro relaxivities of the PE-DTPA-Gd nanoparticles in different media were assessed at different field strengths. The conditional stability constant of Gd binding to the nanoparticles was determined using competitive spectrophotometric titration. Transmetallation kinetics of the gadolinium ion from PE-DTPA-Gd nanoparticles with zinc as the competing ionic was measured using the relaxivity evolution method. Nanoparticles with a diameter of approximately 130 nm possessing surface chelating functions were made from GRAS (Generally Regarded As Safe) materials. STEM demonstrated the uniform distribution of Gd3+ on the surface of the nanoparticles. The thermodynamic binding constant for Gd3+ to the nanoparticles was approximately 10(18) M(-1) and transmetallation studies with Zn2+ yielded kinetic constants K1 and K(-1) of 0.033 and 0.022 1/h, respectively, with an equilibrium constant of 1.5. A payload of approximately 10(5) Gd/nanoparticle was achieved; enhanced relaxivities were observed, including a pH dependence of the transverse relaxivity (r2). Nanoparticles composed of materials that have been demonstrated to be hemocompatible and enzymatically metabolized and possessing accessible Gd ions on their surface induce relaxivities in the bulk water signal that make them potentially useful as next-generation MRI tumor contrast enhancement agents.

Targeted drug delivery systems 6: Intracellular bioreductive activation, uptake and transport of an anticancer drug delivery system across intestinal Caco-2 cell monolayers

We demonstrate transport across, intracellular accumulation and bioreductive activation of a conformationally constrained, anticancer drug delivery system (the CH(3)-TDDS) using Caco-2 cell monolayers (CCMs) as an in vitro model of the human intestinal mucosa. Reverse-phase High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) coupled with UV detection was used to detect CH(3)-TDDS, the bioreduction product (lactone) and the released drug (melphalan methyl ester; MME). Upon incubation of the CH(3)-TDDS with the apical (AP) surface of 21-day-old CCM, we observed rapid decrease in the AP concentration of the CH(3)-TDDS (60%/hr) as a result of cellular uptake. Rapid intracellular accumulation of the CH(3)-TDDS was followed by bioreductive activation to deplete the cellular levels of CH(3)-TDDS. The drug part (MME) and lactone, as well as CH(3)-TDDS, were detected in the basolateral (BL) chamber. Intracellular Caco-2 levels of TDDS and lactone were also detectable. Bioreductive activation of the CH(3)-TDDS was additionally confirmed by formation of lactone after incubation of the CH(3)-TDDS in the presence of freshly prepared Caco-2 cell homogenates. During transport studies of melphalan or MME alone (as control), the intact drug was not detected in the intracellular compartment or in the BL chamber. These observations demonstrate that CH(3)-TDDS has potential for improving intestinal delivery of MME. TDDS could be useful in facilitating oral absorption of MME as well as the oral delivery of other agents.

Stability of bioreductive drug delivery systems containing melphalan is influenced by conformational constraint and electronic properties of substituents

The stability of bioreductive drug delivery systems (TDDS) was monitored at various pH values and in the presence of glutathione (GSH). Results suggest that steric hindrance due to conformational constraint in TDDS led to an increase in stability of TDDS toward nucleophilic degradation under aqueous conditions. The electronic properties of substituents influenced TDDS stability at different pH values and in the presence of GSH.