Abstract
Among the risk factors affecting the development of cancer, nutritional factors occupy a significant place. Pomegranate seed oil (PSO) and bitter melon extract (BME), used for ages in folk medicine, are nowadays used in the prevention of many diseases and as ingredients of dietary supplements. Despite numerous publications on these raw materials or their active substances, their mechanism of action in various pathological states has not been recognized yet, nor has the safety of their simultaneous use been evaluated. The study aimed to assess how dietary supplementation with either PSO, with BME, or both, affects fatty acids’ profiles and their metabolism in hepatic microsomes, as well as the activity of selected microsomal enzymes (COX-2 and CYP1B1). Experimental animals (Sprague-Dawley rats) were divided into eight parallel experimental groups, differing in applied dietary modifications (control, PSO, BME and both PSO and BME) and introduction of chemical carcinogen—7,12-dimethylbenz[a]nthracene. Obtained results indicated the pronounced effect of the cancerous process on lipid metabolism and demonstrated the antagonistic effect of applied dietary supplements on the content of individual fatty acids and the activity of CYP1B1 and COX-2. The applied broad analytical approach and chemometric data analysis confirmed that raw materials, for which potential cancer prevention has been previously demonstrated, may differ in effects depending on the coexisting pathological state.
Highlights
Nutritional factors are considered as the modifiable environmental risk factors of different non-communicable diseases, including cancer
In groups of animals treated with DMBA, the cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) activity was similar, there was a tendency for it to increase in relation to the groups of healthy animals
Application significantly influenced the content of individual fatty acids (FA) compared to the groups receiving bitter melon extract (BME), which resulted in a significant difference in the total content of saturated
Summary
Nutritional factors are considered as the modifiable environmental risk factors of different non-communicable diseases, including cancer. Special attention is lately given to different botanicals, both as herbal medicines and dietary supplements of plant origin, which gain more attention as sources of different bioactive compounds [1]. Conjugated linolenic acids (CLnA) are a group of fatty acids (FA) naturally present in seeds of different plants, among which pomegranate (Punica granatum, Lythraceae) and bitter melon (Momordica charantia, Cucurbitaceae) are edible plants. CLnA isomers, especially punicic acid (cis-9, trans-11, cis-13 C18:3, PA) found in pomegranate, and α-eleostearic acid (cis-9, trans-11, trans-13 C18:3, αESA) present in bitter melon, are considered as bioactive fatty acids. Different health-promoting activities of CLnA isomers, including their anticarcinogenic properties, are extensively studied. Pomegranate and bitter melon have been widely used both as foods as well as in traditional medicine since ancient times
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