Anticarcinogenic properties of medium chain fatty acids on human colorectal, skin and breast cancer cells in vitro.

Amoolya Narayanan,Mary Amalaradjou,Kumar Venkitanarayanan,Sangeetha Baskaran

doi:10.3390/ijms16035014

Amoolya Narayanan, Mary Amalaradjou + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms16035014

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Abstract

Colorectal cancer, breast cancer and skin cancer are commonly-reported cancer types in the U.S. Although radiation and chemotherapy are routinely used to treat cancer, they produce side effects in patients. Additionally, resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs has been noticed in cancers. Thus, there is a need for effective and safe bioprophylactics and biotherapeutics in cancer therapy. The medicinal value of goat milk has been recognized for centuries and is primarily attributed to three fatty acids, namely capric, caprylic and caproic acids. This research investigates the anticancer property of these fatty acids on human colorectal, skin and mammary gland cancer cells. The cancer cells were treated with various concentrations of fatty acids for 48 h, and cell viability was monitored by the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) reduction assay. Additionally, real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) was performed to elucidate the potential anti-cancer mechanisms of the three fatty acids under investigation. Capric, caprylic and caproic acids reduced cancer cell viability by 70% to 90% (p < 0.05) compared to controls. RT-qPCR data indicated that these natural molecules produced anticancer effects by down-regulating cell cycle regulatory genes and up-regulating genes involved in apoptosis. Future research will validate the anticancer effect of these fatty acids in an appropriate in vivo model.

Highlights

Despite advances in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, the disease remains a leading cause of mortality in most countries [1]
The results from cell culture assays revealed that all three goat milk fatty acids studied significantly (p < 0.05) inhibited the viability of the three cancer cell lines (Figure 1A–C)
At the respective highest concentration, the three fatty acids reduced the viability of colon and skin cancer cells by approximately

Summary

Introduction

Despite advances in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, the disease remains a leading cause of mortality in most countries [1]. In the United States, cancer is the second most common cause of death and accounts for one of every four deaths [2]. It is the leading cause of mortality in people less than 85 years of age in the U.S [3]. Colorectal cancer, breast cancer and skin cancer (non-melanoma) represent the most commonly-diagnosed forms and the leading cause of cancer-related mortality in the U.S [2,4,5,6,7,8,9]. The anticarcinogenic properties of several natural products have been reported, many more still remain to be discovered [16,17,18]

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