Abstract
Cancer prevention supplements, which also provide effective treatment with minimal side effects, are urgently needed. An accurate, fast assay system is described that reveals the ability of chemically defined products, such as curcumin, genistein, resveratrol, artemisinin, and vitamin C, to kill K562 Erythroleukemic cells in vitro. In addition, curcumin and vitamin C were encapsulated into fatty acid micelles named NutraNanoSpheresTM (NNS) using all natural products. A unique viability stain, which allows the rapid staining of dead cells by membrane penetration using Propidium Iodide, was used to measure the cell viability by flow cytometry. Cell death by alteration of the cell membranes could be seen within 30 s of exposure to curcumin. The other free components required 0.5 - 70 h to see maximum killing, suggesting a more metabolic and/or apoptotic route of cancer cell destruction. Vitamin C up to 1 × 104 μmol/well did not affect K562 cell viability. The vitamin C-NNS (3.2 nm diameter-60 mg/50 μL) showed an LD50 = 133 μmol/well ± 11 SD (n = 4), which was over 75 times more potent than the free vitamin C. The curcumin-NNS (7.4 nm diameter-25 mg/50 μL) resulted in an LD50 = 41.3 μmol/well ± 5.6 SD (n = 8) and represented a 264 fold increase in activity to destroy the cancer cells. The clinical goal is to develop water-soluble mixtures of anti-cancer compounds in the NNS with their high bioavailability (>90%) and without degradation in the stomach for preventing and curing cancer.
Highlights
Cancer is one of the major causes of death worldwide, and minimal progress has been accomplished in reducing its morbidity [1]
Current estimates from the American Cancer Society and from the International Union Against Cancer indicate that 12 million cases of cancer were diagnosed last year, with 7 million deaths worldwide; these numbers are expected to double in 15 years [2]
This study presents importance of supplements using plant derived or synthesized, chemically pure compounds that show direct toxicity to the K562 cancer cells
Summary
Cancer is one of the major causes of death worldwide, and minimal progress has been accomplished in reducing its morbidity [1]. Estimates by the American Cancer Society are that over 90% of all cancers are caused by lifestyle and may take as long as 20 - 30 years to develop. Current estimates from the American Cancer Society and from the International Union Against Cancer indicate that 12 million cases of cancer were diagnosed last year, with 7 million deaths worldwide; these numbers are expected to double in 15 years [2]. Plants have a long history of being used in the treatment of cancer, and it is noteworthy that over 60% of currently used anti-cancer agents come from natural sources [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]
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