Abstract
Cancer, pain and inflammation have long been a cause for concern amongst patients, clinicians and research scientists. There is an alarming increase in the demand for medicines suppressing these disease conditions. The present study investigates the role of Syzygium mundagam bark methanol (SMBM) extract against MCF-7 breast cancer cells, pain and inflammation. The MCF-7 cells treated with SMBM were analyzed for adenosine triphosphate (ATP), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels, changes in cell morphology and nuclear damage. Hot plate, acetic acid and formalin-induced pain models were followed to determine the analgesic activity. Anti-inflammatory activity was studied using carrageenan, egg albumin and cotton pellet induced rat models. Microscopic images of cells in SMBM treated groups showed prominent cell shrinkage and nuclear damage. Hoechst stain results supported the cell death morphology. The decline in ATP (47.96%) and increased LDH (40.96%) content indicated SMBM induced toxicity in MCF-7 cells. In the in vivo study, a higher dose (200 mg/kg) of the extract was found to be effective in reducing pain and inflammation. The results are promising and the action of the extract on MCF-7 cells, pain and inflammation models indicate the potential of drugs of natural origin to improve current therapies.
Highlights
Cancer patients experience pain and inflammation during various stages of their disease [1].As cancer progresses, patients experience more severe symptoms associated with inflammatory pain
The significant increase in lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels with increasing doses of extract is in agreement with the reduced adenosine triphosphate (ATP) levels, which clearly indicate the cytotoxic role of Syzygium mundagam bark methanol (SMBM)
This study proved effective against acetic acid and formalin induced peripheral analgesia
Summary
Cancer patients experience pain and inflammation during various stages of their disease [1].As cancer progresses, patients experience more severe symptoms associated with inflammatory pain. The management of pain and inflammation has been identified as one of the major tasks in cancer treatment Various therapies targeting these risk factors have shown to counteract the cancer spread [2]. Long term use of NSAIDs drugs has been shown to reduce the incidence of cancer [3] These drugs suppress the microenvironment associated with inflammation in tumors and counteract the chemotherapeutic cancer pain [4]. These drugs have limited use, because of their adverse effects on bronchus, kidney, cardiovascular system, gastrointestinal lesion [5,6]. The investigations using medicinal plants in such research models could be much more effective against cancer, pain and Molecules 2020, 25, 2900; doi:10.3390/molecules25122900 www.mdpi.com/journal/molecules
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