Cytoprotective Agents to Avoid Chemotherapy Induced Sideeffects on Normal Cells: A Review

Deciphering the Potentials of Cardamom in Cancer Prevention and Therapy: From Kitchen to Clinic

Cardamom (cardamum) is a spice produced from the seeds of several Elettaria and Amomum plants of the Zingiberaceae family. Cardamom has been demonstrated to offer numerous benefits, including its antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and other metabolic (anti-diabetic) properties, and its potential to reduce cancer risk. Recently, researchers have extracted and tested multiple phytochemicals from cardamom to assess their potential effectiveness against various types of human malignancy. These studies have indicated that cardamom can help overcome drug resistance to standard chemotherapy and protect against chemotherapy-induced toxicity due to its scavenging properties. Furthermore, chemical compounds in cardamom, including limonene, cymene, pinene, linalool, borneol, cardamonin, indole-3-carbinol, and diindolylmethane, primarily target the programmed cell death lignin-1 gene, which is more prevalent in cancer cells than in healthy cells. This review provides the medicinal properties and pharmacological uses of cardamom, its cellular effects, and potential therapeutic uses in cancer prevention and treatment, as well as its use in reducing drug resistance and improving the overall health of cancer patients. Based on previous preclinical studies, cardamom shows significant potential as an anti-cancer agent, but further exploration for clinical use is warranted due to its diverse mechanisms of action.

An update on oncofertility in prepubertal females

Cancer is a life-threatening event for pediatric patients. Treatment advancements in pediatric cancer have improved prognosis, but some of these treatments have gonadotoxic potential and may affect fertility in different ways. Due to the growing interest of the research community in the life prospects of young cancer survivors, there has been a demand to intersect reproductive medicine and oncology, which is referred to as "oncofertility". There are various fertility preservation options according to gender and pubertal status, and shared decisions must take place at the time of diagnosis. This study aims to provide a critical review of current and emerging strategies for preserving and restoring fertility in prepubertal females, ranging from established methods to experimental approaches that can be offered before, during, and after anticancer therapies. Additionally, the author aims to review how clinicians' awareness of oncofertility options and the latest advancements in this field, timely referral, and proper consultations with patients and their families are vital in addressing their concerns, providing emotional support, and guiding them through the decision-making process, as well as potential barriers that may hinder the fertility preservation process.

DTTZ suppresses ferroptosis and reverses mitochondrial dysfunction in normal tissues affected by chemotherapy

Conventional antineoplastic therapies cause severe normal tissue damage and existing cytoprotectants with acute toxicities or potential tumor protection limit their clinical application. We evaluated the selective cytoprotection of 2,2-dimethylthiazolidine hydrochloride in this study, which could protect normal tissue toxicity without interfering antineoplastic therapies. By using diverse cell lines and A549 xenograft model, we discovered a synthetic aminothiol 2,2-dimethylthiazolidine hydrochloride selectively diminished normal cellular ferroptosis via SystemXc-/Glutathione Peroxidase 4 pathway upon antineoplastic therapies without interfering the anticancer efficacy. We revealed the malignant and non-malignant tissues presenting different energy metabolism patterns. And cisplatin induces disparate replicative stress, contributing to the distinguishable cytoprotection of 2,2-dimethylthiazolidine in normal and tumor cells. The compound pre-application could mitigate cisplatin-induced normal cellular mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) dysfunction. Pharmacologic ablation of mitochondria reversed 2,2-dimethylthiazolidine chemoprotection against cisplatin in the normal cell line. Combined, these results provide a potential therapeutic adjuvant to selectively diminish normal tissue damages retaining antineoplastic efficacy.

Ethyl Gallate: Promising Cytoprotective against HIV-1-Induced Cytopathy and Antiretroviral-Induced Cytotoxicity

Introduction

HIV-1 infection in cell culture is typically characterized by certain cytopathic effects such as vacuolization of cells and development of syncytia, which further lead to cell death. In addition, the majority of drugs during HIV treatment exhibit serious adverse effects in patients, apart from their beneficial role. During the screening of cytoprotective agents to protect the cells from HIV-1-associated cell death and also drug-associated toxicity, antioxidants from a natural source are assumed to be a choice. A well-known antioxidant, ethyl gallate (EG), was selected for cytoprotection studies which have already been proven as an anti-HIV agent.

Objective

The main objective of the study was to explore the cytoprotective potential of EG against HIV-1-induced cytopathic effect and antiretroviral drug toxicity.

Methods

DPPH free radical scavenging assay was performed with EG to find the effective concentration for antioxidant activity. HIV-1infection-associated cytopathic effects and further rescue by EG were studied in MT-2 lymphocytes by the microscopic method and XTT cytopathic assays. The cellular toxicity of different antiretroviral drugs in different cell lines and the consequent cytoprotective effectiveness of EG were investigated using an MTT cell viability assay.

Results

Like ascorbic acid, EG exhibited promising antioxidant activity. HIV-1 infection of MT2 cells induces cell death often referred to as the cytopathic effect. In addition, the usage of antiretroviral drugs also causes severe adverse effects like cytotoxicity. In this context, EG was tested for its cytoprotective properties against HIV-1-induced cytopathic effect and drug-mediated cellular toxicity. EG reclaimed back the MT2 cells from HIV-1-induced cell death. Antiretroviral drugs, such as ritonavir, efavirinz, AZT, and nevirapine, were tested for their toxicity and induced more cell death at higher concentrations in different tissue models such as the liver (THLE-3), lung (AEpiCM), colorectal (HT-29), and brain (U87 MG). Pretreated cells with EG were rescued from the toxic doses of ART.

Conclusion

EG was found to be exhibited cytoprotection not only from HIV-1-linked cell death but also from the chemotoxicity of antiretroviral drugs. Evidently, EG could be a cytoprotective supplement in the management of AIDS along with its enormous antioxidant benefits.

A review on anticancer, antibacterial and photo catalytic activity of various nanoparticles synthesized by probiotics

Probiotics are beneficial bacteria that have a significant effect on host health and they are widely used in preventing and treating diseases. Nowadays probiotics are present in food, drug and several commercial complement products. In recent years the use of probiotics in the nanotechnology area, especially in nanoparticle synthesis, has significantly been increased. In this review, after some introduction about probiotic and their advantages, all the nanoparticles produced by probiotics are reviewed and discussed. Furthermore, biosynthetic mechanisms of nanoparticles and its applications in cancer therapy, antibacterial and photo catalytic activities, are also discussed.

Reduced-intensity conditioning-based hematopoietic cell transplantation for dyskeratosis congenita: Single-center experience and literature review

BACKGROUND

Bone marrow failure in dyskeratosis congenita (DKC) is progressive, and allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) is the only curative treatment. However, outcomes after HCT are suboptimal because of mucosal, vascular, pulmonary, and hepatic fragility, which can be exacerbated by chemotherapy conditioning and graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). These toxicities can be mitigated by reducing the intensity of the conditioning regimen.

PROCEDURES

We performed a retrospective analysis on pediatric patients with DKC who underwent HCT at our institution between 2008 and 2019.

RESULTS

We identified nine patients (median age, 5.7 years) who underwent HCT with a fludarabine-based reduced-intensity conditioning (RIC) regimen. GVHD prophylaxis consisted of tacrolimus plus mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) (n  =  8), tacrolimus/pentostatin (n  =  1), or cyclosporine/MMF (n  =  1). The median time to neutrophil engraftment was 19 days (range, 13-26 days), and the median time to platelet engraftment was 18 days (range, 17-43 days). Lung function, as measured by spirometry in six patients, remained stable during post-HCT observation. Six patients (67%) remain alive, with a median follow-up of 73.5 months.

CONCLUSION

Because of toxicity after myeloablative conditioning, RIC is becoming standard for HCT in DKC. These results suggest that RIC regimen is feasible and safe for patients with DKC and does not accelerate pulmonary damage in the short-to-medium term after HCT.