Abstract
Honey has been used as food and a traditional medicament since ancient times. However, recently many scientists have been concentrating on the anti-oxidant, anti-proliferative, anti-inflammatory and other properties of honey. In this study, we investigated for the first time an anticancer effect of different honeys from Poland on tumor cell line - glioblastoma multiforme U87MG. Anti-proliferative activity of honeys and its interferences with temozolomide were determined by a cytotoxicity test and DNA binding by [H3]-thymidine incorporation. A gelatin zymography was used to conduct an evaluation of metalloproteinases (MMP-2 and MMP-9) expression in U87MG treatment with honey samples. The honeys were previously tested qualitatively (diastase activity, total phenolic content, lead and cadmium content). The data demonstrated that the examined honeys have a potent anti-proliferative effect on U87MG cell line in a time- and dose-dependent manner, being effective at concentrations as low as 0.5% (multifloral light honey - viability 53% after 72 h of incubation). We observed that after 48 h, combining honey with temozolomide showed a significantly higher inhibitory effect than the samples of honey alone. We observed a strong inhibition of MMP-2 and MMP-9 for the tested honeys (from 20 to 56% and from 5 to 58% compared to control, respectively). Our results suggest that Polish honeys have an anti-proliferative and anti-metastatic effect on U87MG cell line. Therefore, natural bee honey can be considered as a promising adjuvant treatment for brain tumors.
Highlights
Honey has been known for centuries for its medicinal and health properties
Research showed an anti-proliferative activity of other honeys, like honeys from Manitoba in bladder cancer [9], honeys from Iran in renal cell carcinoma [14], manuka honey in human breast cancer cell, murine melanoma cell [15]
(292 mg/L), fetal bovine serum (FBS), trypsin-EDTA, penicillin, streptomycin were purchased from PAA Laboratories GmbH (Pasching, Austria); calcium-free phosphate buffered saline (PBS) was from Biomed (Lublin, Poland), methylthiazolyl diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT), dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) were obtained from Sigma-Aldrich
Summary
Honey has been known for centuries for its medicinal and health properties. It contains various kinds of phytochemicals with a high phenolic and flavonoid content which contributes to its high antioxidant activity [1,2,3]. The quantity of these components varies greatly according to the floral and geographical origin, processing, handling and storage [4]. Recent studies showed a significant anticancer activity of Malaysian jungle honey on human breast, cervical, oral and osteosarcoma cancer cell lines [12,13]. Until now honey has not been found in studies to show antiproliferative effects on glioblastoma cancers
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