In vitro anticancer activity of fucoidan extracted from Sargassum cinereum against Caco-2 cells

Fucoidan is a marine sulfated polysaccharide, which is extracted from brown seaweed that has a wide range of bioactivities including anti-cancer properties. However, the underlying mechanism of fucoidan on its anti-cancer and apoptotic activity against colon cancer cell line Caco-2 remains to be elucidated. Hence, the present study evaluated the cytotoxicity, apoptotic and anti-cancer activity of fucoidan extracted from brown seaweed Sargassum cinereum against Caco-2 cell line. Cytotoxicity, morphological examination of nuclei, mitochondrial membrane potential, flow cytometry, reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation and detection of apoptotic efficacy of fucoidan were assessed by different assay protocols. Fucoidan inhibited growth of Caco-2 cells in a dose-dependent manner. IC50 concentration of fucoidan was found to be 250 μg/ml. AO/EB, Hoechst and Annexin V/PI staining confirmed the apoptosis induced by fucoidan in Caco-2 cells. Fucoidan was also found to increase ROS production and augment mitochondrial membrane permeability. The findings of the study suggest that fucoidan exerts potent anti-cancer and apoptotic effect on Caco-2 cells by enhancing ROS production. Thus, fucoidan may be used as a promising therapeutic regimen against various cancer cell types.

CCL2, CCL3 and CCL4 gene polymorphisms in pulmonary tuberculosis patients of South India

Polymorphisms in chemokine genes are important to determine the host-pathogen interactions which influence the chemokine levels. This study was carried out to find whether various CC chemokine gene polymorphisms, located in the promoter, exon-2 and intron-1 regions are associated with susceptibility or resistance to pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) in south Indian population. The polymorphisms in various CC chemokine genes, MCP-1 (CCL2) [-2518A/G, 903C/T], MIP-1α (CCL3) [-2021C/T, +740A/G] and MIP-1β (CCL4) [-5725A/C] were studied in 295 healthy controls (HCs) and 303 patients with PTB using polymerase chain reaction-based restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). The allele and genotype frequencies of CCL2, CCL3 and CCL4 were not different between HCs and patients with PTB. However, a significantly decreased frequency of CCL2 -2518GG genotype was observed in male patients with PTB [P value = 0.015, P corrected (Bonferroni correction) Pc = 0.045, odds ratio (OR) 0.43 95% CI (0.21-0.86)], and a significantly increased frequency of the same genotype was observed among female patients with PTB [P value = 0.049, Pc = 0.147, OR 2.28 95% CI (1.00-5.27)]. The results suggest that -2518GG genotype may be associated with protection in males and susceptibility to PTB in females. Moreover, we also observed differences in the haplotype frequencies of these chemokine genes between HCs and patients with PTB. However, these polymorphisms are not associated with disease independently, probably in combination with other genes, they may be associated with susceptibility or resistance to TB in south Indian population.