Abstract
Background: Natural products are characterized by a complex chemical composition and are capable of concurrently modulate several signalling pathways. Considering the biological complexity of carcinogenesis, natural products represent key components of the therapeutic armamentarium for oncological diseases. The bark of Terminalia arjuna is used in traditional Ayurvedic medicine for its astringent, expectorant, cardiotonic, styptic, and antidysenteric properties. Alongside its traditional uses, Terminalia arjuna exhibits different biological activities including antimutagenic and anticarcinogenic. Objective: This study was designed to evaluate the toxic effects of an alcoholic extract obtained from the bark of T. arjuna on a human T-lymphoblastic cell line (Jurkat). We explored the phytochemical composition and investigated the cytotoxic, cytostatic, genotoxic, and anti-genotoxic effects. Methods: The phytochemical composition was analyzed using spectrophotometric methods; all the biological endpoints were assessed through flow cytometry. Results: The phytochemical screening showed that polyphenols represent about 64% of the extract. Moreover, the extract was cytotoxic on Jurkat cells by inducing both apoptosis and necrosis, and blocked the cell cycle in the G2/M phase. Additionally, it was found that the extract lacks any genotoxic effect, but was not effective in protecting Jurkat cells from the DNA damage induced by H2O2 and etoposide. Conclusion: The results of our study show the toxic effects of Terminalia arjuna on Jurkat cells and confirm the pivotal role played by natural compounds in the oncological field. Further studies should be performed to better understand its clinical potential and deepen its toxicological profile.
Highlights
Cancer is one of the worst plagues of this new millennium
It was found that the extract lacks any genotoxic effect, but was not effective in protecting Jurkat cells from the DNA damage induced by H2O2 and etoposide
The results of our study show the toxic effects of Terminalia arjuna on Jurkat cells and confirm the pivotal role played by natural compounds in the oncological field
Summary
Cancer is one of the worst plagues of this new millennium. In 2018 it was responsible for an estimated 9.6 million deaths and about 18 million new cases of cancer were diagnosed [1].Carcinogenesis involves a series of definable and reproducible stages that leads to the transformation of normal cells into cancerous cells [2]. Because cancer is a multifactorial disease, the shortcoming of many therapeutic drugs that interact with a single target could be overcome by using multi-target agents [3], which interact simultaneously with different biological targets. Vincristine and vinblastine, for example, are two alkaloids with anticancer properties isolated from the Madagascar periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus) in the 1960s, which are still used to treat various cancers [5]. Another important anticancer drug is taxol, isolated from the bark of Pacific yew (Taxus brevifolia) by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in the year 1971. Considering the biological complexity of carcinogenesis, natural products represent key components of the therapeutic armamentarium for oncological diseases. Received: December 17, 2019 Revised: March 05, 2020 Accepted: April 19, 2020
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