A steroidal derivative from Trigonella foenum graecum L. that induces apoptosis in vitro and in vivo.

Trigonella foenum graecum L. is a dietary herb used in traditional medicine system. In this study, we investigated the cytotoxicity, antitumor, antimetastatic and antiangiogenic effect of the steroidal compound, ethyl iso-allocholate isolated from T. foenum graecum L. seeds against A549 lung cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. Among all the isolated compounds, the ethyl iso-allocholate rendered the highest cytotoxicity potential. It showed least percentage cell viability in trypan blue assay and lowest nuclei count in hoechst staining. The caspase glo assay and western blot analysis showed the significant caspase 3 cleavage, indicating caspase dependent apoptosis. Consistent with the in vitro data, ethyl iso-allocholate showed highest percentage tumor growth inhibition i.e. 80 ± 5% in zebrafish, equivalent to doxorubicin. It significantly reduced angiogenesis to 5 ± 0.8% (**P < 0.01), compared to negative control group which was 60 ± 2%. The ethyl iso-allocholate showed 55 ± 3% inhibition in liver metastasis. To investigate the safety of the compounds on normal tissues, the percentage mortality was examined. The ethyl iso-allocholate showed zero percent mortality of zebrafish. These results indicate that the steroidal derivative isolated from T. foenum-graecum seeds induces caspase dependent apoptosis in cancer cells and reduces tumor growth, metastasis and angiogenesis in vivo, as well as it is safe on the normal tissues. The in vitro and in vivo anticancer studies suggest that the cytotoxic compound ethyl iso-allocholate has potential application in pharmaceutical industry.

Natural Compounds A Weapon to Ameliorate Breast Cancer Cells: A Review.

Breast cancer is the heterogeneous disease and leading cause of death in women, worldwide. It is generally caused by the perturbation of various signaling pathways responsible for cell apoptosis. Due to genetic variability, different signaling pathways are disrupted in different breast cancer patients; so, to overcome this multifaceted condition, the personalized treatment is preferred. Since, various potential targets exist in breast cancer cells; it raised the need of new prospective of lead compounds. A large number of evidences show that, due to the presence of various secondary metabolites in plants, natural compounds are frequently examined for search of new bioactive molecules. This review includes the pathological aspects of breast cancer and the effect of natural compounds on breast cancer cells along with their possible mechanism of action. (Databases searched were PubMed, Science Direct, Web of Knowledge, Scopus, and Google Scholar).