Abstract
BackgroundCardamom (Elettaria cardamomum) is a spice and exhibits potent antioxidant and biological activities through distinct molecular mechanisms. However, the anticancer effect of cardamom was not explored yet in Ehrlich solid tumor (EST)-bearing mice.ObjectivesThis investigation was aimed to evaluate the anti-cancer effects of green cardamom (GCar) alone or combined with the anti-cancer drug cyclophosphamide in an in vivo model to explore its mechanistic role in tumor cell death in EST-bearing mice.MethodsEhrlich ascites tumor cells were injected in the mice and 5 days later the animals treated with GCar and/or cyclophosphamide for 10 days. Twenty-four hours from the last treatment, animals were sacrificed for the different measurements.ResultsData recorded for tumor size, percentage of tumor growth inhibition, tumor growth delay and mean survival time of EST-bearing mice demonstrated the effective role of GCar alone or combined with CPO as a promising anti-cancer agent because it reduced tumor size. GCar elevated the mean survival time of EST-bearing mice compared to that of untreated EST and EST + CPO groups. Analysis of qPCR mRNA gene and protein expression revealed that GCar alone or combined with CPO were promising anticancer agents. After the treatment of EST with GCar, the apoptotic-related genes and proteins were significantly modulated. GCar induced markedly significant decreases in oxidative stress biomarkers and a significant increment in glutathione levels and that of antioxidant enzymes. With a marked diminish in liver and kidney function biomarkers.ConclusionThe results revealed that GCar could serve as an apoptotic stimulator agent, presenting a novel and potentially curative approach for cancer treatment, inducing fewer side effects than those of the commercially used anti-cancer drugs, such as CPO.
Highlights
Cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum) is a spice and exhibits potent antioxidant and biological activities through distinct molecular mechanisms
The results indicated that administration of tumorbearing Ehrlich solid tumor (EST) mice with green cardamom (GCar) or CPO alone, or in combination markedly decreased tumor development, as recognized by the reduction in tumor volume and tumor weight, compared with those in the tumor-bearing EST mice (Fig. 2)
The qPCR data and immunohistochemistry results The data represented in Fig. 5 indicated a significant downregulation in mRNA of B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) in CPO-treated ESTbearing groups in comparison with that of the control EST-bearing mice
Summary
Cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum) is a spice and exhibits potent antioxidant and biological activities through distinct molecular mechanisms. Chemotherapy is one of the cancer treatment approaches, which may be undertaken alone or together with other therapies, such as surgery and/or radiotherapies. It utilizes a wide range of remedies that have cytotoxic activities to one or more cancerous tissues. The medical use of CPO has been inadequate because of its capability to harm normal tissues, which usually results in toxicity in several organs (heart, testes and urinary bladder) [2] Hepatotoxicity is the foremost side effect of CPO because it is metabolized primarily within the hepatocytes by hepatic microsomal cytochrome p450 varied function oxidase system to construct its two-active metabolites phosphoramide mustard (PM) and acrolein. CPO toxicity resulting from acrolein binding to the nucleophilic cellular antioxidants, such as glutathione (GSH), results in the exhaustion of the antioxidant defiance molecules and initiates lipid peroxidation (LPO) [2, 4]
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