The chemotherapeutic effect of essential oil of Plectranthus amboinicus (Lour) on lung metastasis developed by B16F-10 cell line in C57BL/6 mice.

Current investigation is to evaluate the anticancer activity of the essential oil of Plectranthus amboinicus (Lour) on B16F-10 melanoma cell line injected C57BL/6 mice, and it was simultaneously treated with the essential oil of P. amboinicus (Lour) (50 µg/dose) via i.p. for 21 days. The present investigation exhibited the potent chemotherapeutic/chemopreventive effect of the essential oil of P. amboinicus (Lour) over lung metastasis that developed. To our knowledge, this is the first report in evaluating the effect of essential oil of P. amboinicus (Lour) using lung cancer model.

Antioxidant activity of essential oils from Wedelia chinensis (Osbeck) in vitro and in vivo lung cancer bearing C57BL/6 mice.

AIM: The present investigation was to evaluate the effects of essential oils of Wedelia chinensis (Osbeck) on free radicals and in vivo antioxidant properties. METHODS: Essential oils were extracted using hydro-distillation and compound analysis was performed by GC-MS analysis. Screening for inhibitory activity was conducted by DPPH and OH-scavenging assays. In addition an in vivo study was carried out in cell line implanted cancer bearing mice with assessment of levels of catalase, superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, lipid peroxidation, nitric oxide and reduced glutathione. Finally, lungs were dissected out for histopathology study of metastasis. RESULTS: GC-MS analysis revealed the presence of carvocrol and trans-caryophyllene as the major compounds with 96% comparison with the Wilily and NBS libraries. The essential oil exhibited significant inhibition in DPPH free radical formation. Whereas reducing power and hydroxyl radical scavenging activity are dose dependent. When compared with the standard, it was found that the essential oil has more or less equal activity in scavenging free radicals produced. In the animal studies, the level of antioxidant enzymes catalase, superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase, as well as glutathione, were found to be increased in treated groups whereas lipid peroxidation and nitric oxide were reduced. Histopathology report also shows that the essential oil has a significant combating effect against cancer development. CONCLUSION: In all the in vitro assays, a significant correlation existed between the concentrations of the essential oil and percentage inhibition of free radicals. The in vivo studies also has shown a very good antioxidant property for the essential oil during cancer development. From, these results the essential oil can be recommended for treating disease related to free radicals and to prevent cancer development.

Essential oil of Tridax procumbens L induces apoptosis and suppresses angiogenesis and lung metastasis of the B16F-10 cell line in C57BL/6 mice.

BACKGROUND: To determine the effect of essential oil obtained from a traditionally used medicinal plant Tridax procumbens L, on lung metastasis developed by B16F-10 melanoma cells in C57BL/6 mice. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Parameters studied were toxicity, lung tumor nodule count, histopathological features, tumor directed capillary vessel formation, apoptosis and expression levels of P53 and caspase-3 proteins. RESULTS: In vitro the MTT assay showed cytotoxicity was found to be high as 70.2% of cancer cell death within 24 hrs for 50 µg. In vivo oil treatment significantly inhibited tumor nodule formation by 71.7% when compared with untreated mice. Formation of tumor directed new blood vessels was also found to be inhibited to about 39.5%. TUNEL assays also demonstrated a significant increase in the number of apoptotic positive cells after the treatment. P53 and caspase-3 expression was also found to be greater in the essential oil treated group than the normal and cancer group. CONCLUSIONS: The present investigation showed significant effects of the essential oil of Tridax procumbens L in preventing lung metastasis by B16F-10 cell line in C57BL/6 mice. Its specific preventive effect on tumor directed angiogenesis and inducing effect on apoptosis warrant further studies at the molecular level to validate the significance of Tridax procumbens L for anticancer therapy.

Chemoprotective effect of all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) on oxidative stress and lung metastasis induced by benzo(a)pyrene.

Chemoprevention is regarded as one of the most promising and realistic approaches in the prevention of cancer. All-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) is an active metabolite of vitamin A under the family retinoids, derived by irreversible oxidation of retinol (vitamin A), the parent compound for all natural retinoids. The aim of the present study is to divulge the chemopreventive and chemoprotective nature of ATRA during benzo(a)pyrene (B(a)P) induced lung cancer development in BALB/c mice. Administration of B(a)P (50 mg/kg body weight) to mice resulted in increased lipid peroxides (LPO), lipid hydroperoxides (LOOH) and nitric oxide (NO) with concomitant decrease in the levels of tissue anti-oxidants like superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), reduced glutathione (GSH) and vitamin C. ATRA supplementation (0.585 mg/kg body weight) attenuated all these alterations, which indicates the anti-cancer effect that was further confirmed by histopathological analysis. Overall, the above data show that the anti-cancer effect of ATRA is more pronounced when used as an chemopreventive agent against B(a)P-induced lung carcinogenesis.