Effect of aqueous extracts of Ficus vogeliana Miq and Tieghemella africana Pierre in 7,12-Dimethylbenz(a)anthracene -induced skin cancer in rats

Juvenile cannabidiol chronic treatments produce robust changes in metabolic markers in adult male Wistar rats

The use of cannabidiol (CBD), the non-psychotropic compound derived from Cannabis sativa, for therapeutic purposes is growing exponentially by targeting the management of multiple medical disorders, including metabolic-related diseases. Nevertheless, substantial questions have emerged in concerning the potential metabolic disturbances in adulthood as consequence of the long-term uses of CBD during early years of life. Therefore, we studied whether chronic CBD injections (5, 10 or 30 mg/kg; i.p.) given to juvenile rats (from post-natal day [PND] 30) for 14 days might influence in adulthood the activity of metabolic markers, such as glucose, total cholesterol, triglycerides as well as activity of antioxidants (DPPH) from plasma, white adipose tissue (WAT), brown adipose tissue (BAT), liver, and hypothalamus. Our results showed that adult rats treated during juvenile ages with CBD (5, 10 or 30 mg/kg) for two weeks increased the contents of glucose whereas with no changes on total cholesterol in adulthood were observed. Additionally, a significant decrease in the levels of triglycerides were found in plasma, WAT, BAT, and liver in adult rats treated with chronic injections of CBD during the adolescence. However, unexpectedly, the contents of triglycerides in hypothalamus were found enhanced. Finally, the DPPH assay showed a significant enhancement in triglycerides analyzed from WAT and liver whereas opposite findings were observed in BAT and no significant changes were found in hypothalamus in adult rats that received during the adolescence chronic injections of CBD. In conclusion, repeated CBD administration to juvenile rats induced significant alterations in multiple metabolic markers analyzed in the adulthood. Our findings highlight the relevance of chronic CBD treatment in disturbed metabolic activity and remark the need for studying the underlying mechanisms involved.

Review On Documented Medicinal Plants Used For The Treatment Of Cancer

Background:

Cancer is a frightful disease and it is the second leading cause of death worldwide. Naturally derived compounds are gaining interest of research workers as they have less toxic side effects as compared to currently used treatments such as chemotherapy. Plants are the pool of chemical compounds which provides a promising future for research on cancer.

Objective:

This review paper provides updated information gathered on medicinal plants and isolated phytoconstituents used as anticancer agents and summarises the plant extracts and their isolated chemical constituents exhibiting anticancer potential on clinical trials.

Methods:

An extensive bibliographic investigation was carried out by analysing worldwide established scientific databases like SCOPUS, PUBMED, SCIELO, ScienceDirect, Springerlink, Web of Science, Wiley, SciFinder and Google Scholar etc. In next few decades, herbal medicine may become a new epoch of medical system.

Results:

Many researches are going on medicinal plants for the treatment of cancer but it is a time to increase further experimental studies on plant extracts and their chemical constituents to find out their mechanism of action at molecular level.

Conclusion:

The article may help many researchers to start off further experimentation that might lead to the drugs for the cancer treatment.

Treatment of liver cancer cells with ethyl acetate extract of Crithmum maritimum permits reducing sorafenib dose and toxicity maintaining its efficacy

OBJECTIVES

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most frequent tumours worldwide and available drugs are inadequate for therapeutic results and tolerability. Hence, novel effective therapeutic tools with fewer side effects are of paramount importance. We have previously shown that Crithmum maritimum ethyl acetate extract exerts a cytostatic effect in HCC cells. Here, we tested whether C. maritimum ethyl acetate extract in combination with half sorafenib IC50 dose ameliorated efficacy and toxicity of sorafenib in inhibiting liver cancer cell growth. Moreover, we investigated the mechanisms involved.

METHODS

Two HCC cell lines (Huh7 and HepG2) were treated with C. maritimum ethyl acetate extract and half IC50 sorafenib dose usually employed in vitro. Then, cell proliferation, growth kinetics and cell toxicity were analysed together with an investigation of the cellular mechanisms involved, focusing on cell cycle regulation and apoptosis.

KEY FINDINGS

Results show that combined treatment with C. maritimum ethyl acetate extract and half IC50 sorafenib dose decreased cell proliferation comparably to full-dose sorafenib without increasing cell toxicity as confirmed by the effect on cell cycle regulation and apoptosis.

CONCLUSIONS

These results provide scientific support for the possibility of an effective integrative therapeutic approach for HCC with fewer side effects on patients.