A Pilot Clinical Study to Investigate the Hypomethylating Properties of Freeze-dried Black Raspberries in Patients with Myelodysplastic Syndrome or Myeloproliferative Neoplasm

Rubus Occidentalis and its bioactive compounds against cancer: From molecular mechanisms to translational advances

BACKGROUND

Cancer ranks as the second leading cause of death globally, imposing a significant public health burden. The rise in cancer resistance to current therapeutic agents underscores the potential role of phytotherapy. Black raspberry (BRB, Rubus Occidentalis) is a fruit rich in anthocyanins, ellagic acid, and ellagitannins. Accumulating evidence suggests that BRB exhibits promising anticancer effects, positioning it as a viable candidate for phytotherapy.

PURPOSE

This article aims to review the existing research on BRB regarding its role in cancer prevention and treatment. It further analyzes the effective components of BRB, their metabolic pathways, and the potential mechanisms underlying the fruit's anticancer effects.

METHODS

Ovid MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science, and CENTRAL were searched through the terms of Black Raspberry, Raspberry, and Rubus Occidentali up to January 2023. Two reviewers performed the study selection by screening the title and abstract. Full texts of potentially eligible studies were retrieved to access the details.

RESULTS

Out of the 767 articles assessed, 73 papers met the inclusion criteria. Among them, 63 papers investigated the anticancer mechanisms, while 10 conducted clinical trials focusing on cancer treatment or prevention. BRB was found to influence multiple cancer hallmarks by targeting various pathways. Decomposition of free radicals and regulation of estrogen metabolism, BRB can reduce DNA damage caused by reactive oxygen species. BRB can also enhance the function of nucleotide excision repair to repair DNA lesions. Through regulation of epigenetics, BRB can enhance the expression of tumor suppressor genes, inducing cell cycle arrest, and promoting apoptosis and pyroptosis. BRB can reduce the energy and nutrients supply to the cancer nest by inhibiting glycolysis and reducing angiogenesis. The immune and inflammatory microenvironment surrounding cancer cells can also be ameliorated by BRB, inhibiting cancer initiation and progression. However, the limited bioavailability of BRB diminishes its anticancer efficacy. Notably, topical applications of BRB, such as gels and suppositories, have demonstrated significant clinical benefits.

CONCLUSION

BRB inhibits cancer initiation, progression, and metastasis through diverse anticancer mechanisms while exhibiting minimal side effects. Given its potential, BRB emerges as a promising phototherapeutic agent for cancer treatment.

Berries vs. Disease: Revenge of the Phytochemicals

Secondary metabolites and phytochemicals in plant-based diets are known to possess properties that inhibit the development of several diseases including a variety of cancers of the aerodigestive tract. Berries are currently of high interest to researchers due to their high dietary source of phytochemicals. Black raspberries (BRB), Rubus occidentalis, are of special interest due to their rich and diverse composition of phytochemicals. In this review, we present the most up-to-date preclinical and clinical data involving berries and their phytochemicals in the chemoprevention of a variety of cancers and diseases. BRBs possess a variety of health benefits including anti-proliferative properties, anti-inflammatory activity, activation of pro-cell-death pathways, modulation of the immune response, microbiome modulation, reduction in oxidative stress, and many more. However, little has been done in both preclinical and clinical settings on the effects of BRB administration in combination with other cancer therapies currently available for patients. With the high potential for BRBs as chemopreventive agents, there is a need to investigate their potential in combination with other treatments to improve therapeutic efficacy.

Effects of Black Raspberry Supplementation on Methylation Pathways in Vav-creAsxl1fl/flTet2fl/fl Double Knockout Mice with Early-stage Myelodysplastic Syndrome

Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are a subset of myeloid malignancies defined by clonality of immature hematopoietic stem cells that leads to faulty blood cell development. These syndromes can lead to an increased risk of infection and may transform into acute myeloid leukemia, making it critical to determine effective treatments for the condition. While hypomethylating agents such as azacitidine and decitabine, as well as stem cell transplants, have been delineated as favored treatments for MDS, not all patients are physiologically receptive to these treatments. However, black raspberries (BRBs) have been shown to exert hypomethylating effects in various malignancies, with minimal adverse effects and thus a broader range of potential candidacies. This study aimed to investigate the potential of BRBs to exert such effects on MDS using Addition of Sex Combs Like/Tet Methylcytosine Dioxygenase 2 (Asxl1/Tet2) double knockout mice (Vav-cre Asxl1fl/fl Tet2fl/fl), which typically manifest symptoms around 25 weeks of age, mirroring genetic mutations found in humans with MDS. Following a 12-week dietary supplementation of Vav-cre Asxl1fl/fl Tet2fl/fl mice with 5% BRBs, we observed both hyper- and hypomethylation at multiple transcription start sites and intragenic locations linked to critical pathways, including hematopoiesis. This methylation profile may have implications for delaying the onset of MDS, prompting a need for in-depth investigation. Our results emphasize the importance of exploring whether an extended BRB intervention can effectively alter MDS risk and elucidate the relationship between BRB-induced methylation changes, thus further unlocking the potential benefits of BRBs for MDS patients.

Bioinformatics gene analysis of potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets of osteoarthritis associated myelodysplastic syndrome

Objective: Osteoarthritis (OA) and Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) are diseases caused by the same immune disorder with unclear etiology and many similarities in clinical manifestations; however, the specific mechanisms between osteoarthritis and myelodysplastic syndrome are unclear.

Methods: The expression profile microarrays of osteoarthritis and myelodysplastic syndrome were searched in the GEO database, the intersection of their differential genes was taken, Venn diagrams were constructed to find common pathogenic genes, bioinformatics analysis signaling pathway analysis was performed on the obtained genes, and protein-protein interaction networks were constructed to find hub genes in order to establish diagnostic models for each disease and explore the immune infiltration of hub genes.

Results: 52 co-pathogenic genes were screened for association with immune regulation, immune response, and inflammation. The mean area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) for all 10 genes used for co-causal diagnosis ranged from 0.71–0.81. Immune cell infiltration analysis in the myelodysplastic syndrome subgroup showed that the relative numbers of Macrophages M1, B cells memory, and T cells CD4 memory resting in the myelodysplastic syndrome group were significantly different from the normal group, however, in the osteoarthritis subgroup the relative numbers of Mast cells resting in the osteoarthritis subgroup was significantly different from the normal group.

Conclusion: There are common pathogenic genes in osteoarthritis and myelodysplastic syndrome, which in turn mediate differential alterations in related signaling pathways and immune cells, affecting the high prevalence of osteoarthritis and myelodysplastic syndrome and the two disease phenomena.