Aspirin versus placebo on estrogen levels in postmenopausal women: a double-blind randomized controlled clinical trial.

BACKGROUND: Estrogen is involved in the pathogenesis of breast and gynecological cancers. Regular use of aspirin reduces estrogen levels. The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of aspirin on estrogen levels in postmenopausal women. METHODS: This double-blind, placebo-controlled parallel-group trial was conducted on postmenopausal women referred to an outpatient clinic at a women's hospital in Tehran. Volunteers were randomly assigned to receive aspirin 100 mg/day or placebo for 6 weeks. Estradiol, sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), and testosterone levels at baseline and at the end of the intervention were measured by ELISA. Data were analyzed using SPSS 20, Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, independent samples t-test, and Mann-Whitney U test. RESULTS: Twenty-seven and 28 participants were finally analyzed in the aspirin and placebo groups, respectively. There was no significant difference between the two groups in body mass index (BMI), age, or menopausal years. There was a statistically significant difference (p = 0.002) in the amount of  change in estradiol levels of the intervention group (median=- 3.5 pg/ml) compared to the control group (median=1.5 pg/ml). In contrast, there were no significant differences between the two groups regarding testosterone and SHBG levels (p = 0.58, p = 0.32). CONCLUSIONS: Since low doses of aspirin may decrease estradiol levels, it could be considered a promising adjunctive therapeutic candidate in postmenopausal women to decrease BC incidence. However, further studies with larger sample sizes, measurements of estrogen levels and its related compounds in different time points accompanied by long-term follow-ups are needed to better elucidate the potential mechanisms by which nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) negatively affect breast cancer. TRIAL REGISTRATION: IRCT201012195397N1. Date of first registration: 03/01/2011.

The HER-2 as a Target Gene of Curcumin to Protect Hepatocytes Against the Arsenic-induced Carcinoma in Mice.

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: The HER-2 gene is an important on co protein overexpressed in many types of cancers. The current study hypothesized that curcumin downregulates HER-2 and inhibits the signal transduction pathway of PI3K/Akt, MAPK, and activation of NFκB, which could be useful to treat overexpressed-HER-2 hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODS: In the current study, 40 male NMRI (Naval Medical Research Institute) mice were divided into 4 groups of 10 as follow: Group1 (control group) only received 5 mL/kg corn oil, group 2 (poisoned group) received 30 mg/L arsenic (As2O3) dissolved in water, group3 (curcumin treated), and group 4 (curcumin and arsenic treated) received 10 to 20mg/5mL/kg for 60 days. Once experimental period was completed, liver samples were collected. The analysis of the gene expression was performed by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique. RESULTS: Gene expression analysis showed that curcumin had significantly downregulated the activity of HER-2, in poisoned mice. CONCLUSION: According to the current study results, it could be concluded that curcumin has the inhibitory potential toward HER-2-overexpressed HCC.