Paeonol prevents migration and invasion, and promotes apoptosis of cervical cancer cells by inhibiting 5‑lipoxygenase

Pharmacological effects and mechanisms of paeonol on antitumor and prevention of side effects of cancer therapy

Cancer represents one of the leading causes of mortality worldwide. Conventional clinical treatments include radiation therapy, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and targeted therapy. However, these treatments have inherent limitations, such as multidrug resistance and the induction of short- and long-term multiple organ damage, ultimately leading to a significant decrease in cancer survivors' quality of life and life expectancy. Paeonol, a nature active compound derived from the root bark of the medicinal plant Paeonia suffruticosa, exhibits various pharmacological activities. Extensive research has demonstrated that paeonol exhibits substantial anticancer effects in various cancer, both in vitro and in vivo. Its underlying mechanisms involve the induction of apoptosis, the inhibition of cell proliferation, invasion and migration, angiogenesis, cell cycle arrest, autophagy, regulating tumor immunity and enhanced radiosensitivity, as well as the modulation of multiple signaling pathways, such as the PI3K/AKT and NF-κB signaling pathways. Additionally, paeonol can prevent adverse effects on the heart, liver, and kidneys induced by anticancer therapy. Despite numerous studies exploring paeonol's therapeutic potential in cancer, no specific reviews have been conducted. Therefore, this review provides a systematic summary and analysis of paeonol's anticancer effects, prevention of side effects, and the underlying mechanisms involved. This review aims to establish a theoretical basis for the adjunctive strategy of paeonol in cancer treatment, ultimately improving the survival rate and enhancing the quality of life for cancer patients.

Natural Bioactives: Back to the Future in the Fight against Human Papillomavirus? A Narrative Review

Human papillomavirus (HPV) still represents an important threat to health worldwide. Better therapy in terms of further improvement of outcomes and attenuation of related side-effects is desirable. The pharmaceutical industry has always targeted natural substances-phytochemicals in particular-to identify lead compounds to be clinically validated and industrially produced as antiviral and anticancer drugs. In the field of HPV, numerous naturally occurring bioactives and dietary phytochemicals have been investigated as potentially valuable in vitro and in vivo. Interference with several pathways and improvement of the efficacy of chemotherapeutic agents have been demonstrated. Notably, some clinical trials have been conducted. Despite being endowed with general safety, these natural substances are in urgent need of further assessment to foresee their clinical exploitation. This review summarizes the basic research efforts conducted so far in the study of anti-HPV properties of bio-actives with insights into their mechanisms of action and highlights the variety of their natural origin in order to provide comprehensive mapping throughout the different sources. The clinical studies available are reported, as well, to highlight the need of uniformity and consistency of studies in the future to select those natural compounds that may be suited to clinical application.

Investigation on the antitumor effects of paeonol against renal cell carcinoma based on network pharmacology and experimental validation

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is the most common cancer of the urinary system, the current treatments for RCC are unsatisfactory. Paeonol is the main pharmacologically active ingredient of the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) moutan cortex (Paeonia suffruticosa Andrews) and Paeonia albiflora Pall, and has been used in TCM to treat various diseases including cancer. However, the underlying therapeutic mechanisms of paeonol in RCC have not been investigated yet.

AIM OF THE STUDY

This study aimed to explore the potential antitumor effects and mechanisms of paeonol on RCC based on network pharmacology and experimental validation.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Network pharmacological analysis was performed to predict the potential targets and mechanism of paeonol against RCC. The antitumor effects and the priority targets of paeonol against RCC were further assessed by in vitro experiments.

RESULTS

104 intersection targets shared by paeonol and RCC were collected, 15 hub genes were obtained, among these genes, VEGFA expression was higher in RCC, and the higher expression of IL-6 or lower expression of AKT1, JUN, MAPK1, and MAPK8 were correlated to the shorter overall survival (OS) in RCC patients. GO and KEGG analyses suggested that the genes were mainly enriched in the positive regulation of cell death and apoptosis pathway. In vitro experiments showed that paeonol inhibited 786-O cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and promoted apoptosis. When 786-O cells were treated with paeonol, the expression of Bax increased while Bcl-2 and VEGFA decreased.

CONCLUSION

The present study demonstrated that paeonol might play an essential role in RCC by regulating cell proliferation, apoptosis, metastasis, and invasion through the Bcl-2/Bax signaling pathway and VEGFA, providing a theoretical and experimental scientific basis for future investigations of the antitumor effects of paeonol against RCC.

Paeonol inhibits human lung cancer cell viability and metastasis in vitro via miR-126-5p/ZEB2 axis

Paeonol exerted an effect in lung cancer, but the underlying mechanism remained vague. In this research, we assessed the effects of Paeonol and microRNA (miR)-126-5p on the viability, migration, invasion, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of lung cancer cells. Lung cancer cells and BEAS-2B cells were treated with Paeonol, and viability was detected by 3-(4,5)-dimethylthiahiazo (-z-y1)-3,5-di- phenytetrazoliumromide (MTT) assay. The migration and invasion of lung cancer cells after treatment with Paeonol at 40 μg/mL or 80 μg/mL were detected by wound healing assay and Transwell assay, respectively. The effects of Paeonol on transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1)-induced EMT and relative expressions of EMT-related proteins were determined using Western blot. The target gene of miR-126-5p and the binding sites between them were predicted by TargetScan, and confirmed using dual-luciferase reporter assay. Relative expressions of miR-126-5p, its target gene and EMT-related proteins were determined by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and Western blot. Rescue assay was performed to analyze the relation between Paeonol and miR-126-5p. Paeonol down-regulated cell viability and inhibited migration, invasion and TGF-β1-induced EMT while up-regulating miR-126-5p expression in lung cancer cells as the dose increased. However, miR-126-5p inhibitor could reverse the effect of Paeonol. ZEB2 was the target gene of miR-126-5p, and silencing ZEB2 expression reversed the effects of miR-126-5p downregulation. Paeonol also regulated the expression of ZEB2 in lung cancer cells, and this regulation depends on the regulation of miR-126-5p. Paeonol inhibits human lung cancer cell viability and metastasis via the miR-126-5p/ZEB2 axis, and could be adopted as a potential agent for lung cancer treatment.

The Involvement of Natural Polyphenols in the Chemoprevention of Cervical Cancer

From all types of cancer, cervical cancer manages to be in top four most frequent types, with a 6.5% rate of occurrence. The infectious vector that induces the disease, the high-risk Human papillomavirus (HPV), which is a sexually transmitted virus, is capable of transforming the host cell by modulating some of the principal signaling pathways responsible for cell cycle arrest, proliferation, and survival. Fortunately, like other cancer types, cervical cancer can be treated by chirurgical interventions or chemoradiotherapy, but these methods are not exactly the lucky clover of modern medicine because of the adverse effects they have. That is the reason why in the last years the emphasis has been on alternative medicine, more specifically on phytochemicals, as a substantial number of studies showed that diet contributes to cancer prevention and treatment. All these studies are trying to find new chemopreventive agents with less toxicity but high effectiveness both in vitro and in vivo. The aim of this review is to evaluate the literature in order to underline the advantages and disadvantages of polyphenols, a class of dietary compounds, as chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic agents. This review also aims to present polyphenols from different perspectives, starting with mechanisms of action and ending with their toxicity. The bigger picture illustrates that polyphenols have great potential in cervical cancer prevention, with strong effects on gene modulation.