Abstract
BackgroundWith cancer being one of the major causes of death around the world, studies are ongoing to find new chemotherapeutic leads. There are common mechanisms for colorectal cancer (CRC) formation. Several are connected with oxidative stress-induced cell apoptosis and others are related to imbalanced homeostasis or intake of drugs/toxins. Plants that have been used for decades in folk and traditional medicine have been accepted as one of the commonest sources of discovered natural agents of cancer chemotherapy and chemoprevention. The aim was to study the antioxidant and chemopreventive effects of Strobilanthes crispus on colorectal cancer formation.MethodsFive groups of rats were injected subcutaneously with AOM, 15 mg/kg body weight, each once weekly for 2 weeks. The cancer group was continued on 10 % Tween-20 feeding for 8 weeks. The standard drug group was continued on 35 mg/kg 5-fluorouracil intraperitoneal injection twice a week for 8 weeks, and the experimental groups were continued on 250 and 500 mg/kg S. crispus extract oral feeding for 8 weeks, respectively. The normal group was injected subcutaneously with normal saline once a week for 2 weeks, followed by oral administration of 10 % Tween-20 for 8 weeks. All the rats were sacrificed after 10 weeks. The colons were evaluated grossly and histopathologically for aberrant crypt foci (ACF). Gene expression was performed for Bax, Bcl2, Defa24, Slc24a3, and APC genes by real-time PCR. S. crispus and its fractions were evaluated for their chemopreventive effects against human colorectal adenocarcinoma cell line HT29 and cytotoxicity for normal human colon epithelial cell line CCD 841, and the active fraction was assessed for its components.ResultsWe observed significant decrease in total colonic ACF formation, malonaldehyde (MDA) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), increase in superoxide dismutase (SOD), up-regulation of APC, Bax and Slc24a3, and down-regulation of Defa24 and Bcl-2 in rats treated with Strobilanthes crispus.ConclusionOur results support the in vivo protection of S. crispus against CRC formation (azoxymethane-induced aberrant crypt foci) and suggest that the mechanism is highly specific to protect from oxidative insults and the following apoptotic cascade.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12906-015-0926-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
With cancer being one of the major causes of death around the world, studies are ongoing to find new chemotherapeutic leads
Rats treated with AOM and fed with either 250 or 500 mg/kg of the S. crispus extract showed a significantly lower number of total Aberrant crypt foci (ACF)/colon compared with the AOM-treated rats
The inhibition of ACF formation as a marker for tumour initiation was recorded as 70.6–71.3 % in the S. crispus treated groups compared to 72.6 % in the fluorouracil-treated group when compared with the AOM group
Summary
With cancer being one of the major causes of death around the world, studies are ongoing to find new chemotherapeutic leads. There are common mechanisms for colorectal cancer (CRC) formation. The aim was to study the antioxidant and chemopreventive effects of Strobilanthes crispus on colorectal cancer formation. The gastrointestinal tract is highly susceptible to oxidative radicals and the incidence of mutations and genetic alterations [1]. The colorectal segment of the gastrointestinal tract is vulnerable due to both the biological function and distal position. It is not surprising if colorectal cancer (CRC) accounts for 13 % of all cancers worldwide and considered as one of the world’s most common neoplasms [2]. Aberrant crypt foci (ACF) are one of the earliest neoplastic lesions of CRC and an evidential landmark during the early stage of tumour formation [3, 4]
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