Abstract
Hyacinthus orientalis L. (family Hyacinthaceae) is traditionally used to treat different diseases including cancer. In this study, the anticancer and immunomodulatory effects of this plant were evaluated. Hydroalcoholic extract was prepared, and different solvent fractions were obtained using solvent–solvent extraction. In the anticancer part, MTT assay and caspase-3 ELISA kits were used to measure the antiproliferative and apoptosis induction ability for each extract, respectively. In the immunomodulatory part, lymphocyte proliferation assay and cytokines detection kit were used to measure the effect of extracts of acquired immunity. Phagocytosis and pinocytosis induction were used to evaluate the effect of extracts on the innate immunity. GC–MS, LC–MS, and Foline–Ciocalteu assays were used to identify the chemical composition of the plant. Balb/C mice were inoculated with breast cancer and treated with hydroalcoholic extract of H. orientalis L. Results showed that hydroalcoholic extract and n-hexane fraction were highly effective in apoptosis induction. Both extract and fraction were also effective in stimulating lymphocytes proliferation and phagocytosis. Significant reduction in tumor size was achieved after treating tumor-bearing mice with hydroalcoholic extract. Additionally, high cure percentages (50%) were obtained in treated mice. Results of this study showed that H. orientalis L. has promising anticancer and immunomodulatory activities. However, further studies are needed to explore more details of apoptosis induction ability and other mechanisms of action and to measure different signaling pathways responsible for the anticancer and immunomodulatory response.
Highlights
Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide
We evaluated the change in the function of innate and acquired immune response after treatment with different extract and fractions from H. orientalis L
Our results revealed an increase in the level of IL-2 and INF-γ in lymphocytes treated with the hydroalcoholic extract
Summary
Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide. According to recent World Health Organization (WHO) reports, cancer is ranked as the first or second leading cause of death in 172 countries. Plants represent an unlimited source of biologically active natural products that exhibit high potential to target cancer with relatively limited toxicity. The use of many plant-derived anticancer agents is associated with toxicity and development of drug resistance. Herbal medication is effectively used by cancer patients in the UK for multiple purposes, such as preventing or relieving some of the direct symptoms of the cancer itself or dampening down the direct side effects of chemotherapy and radiotherapy used in the initial treatment process [8]. Limited studies have tested the biological activities of this plant [11,12,13,14], chemical analysis revealed the presence of nine acylated anthocyanins in the flowers of H. orientalis L [15]. Compounds isolated from this plant showed potent inhibitory activity toward α-glucosidase, and have the potential to be used in the treatment of diabetes [17]
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