The Influence of In Vitro Gastrointestinal Digestion on the Anticancer Activity of Manuka Honey.

Danila Cianciosi,Emilio Gil,José L. Quiles,Francesca Giampieri,Sadia Afrin,Massimiliano Gasparrini,Maurizio Battino,Stefano Bompadre,Jesus Simal-Gandara,Tamara Yuliett Forbes-Hernández

doi:10.3390/antiox9010064

Abstract

Manuka honey (MH) is a natural food with many beneficial properties to human health, thanks to its high variety of bioactive compounds; however, little is known about its bioaccessibility. The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the polyphenol compounds, the antioxidant capacity and the anticancer activity of MH subjected to an in vitro gastrointestinal digestion in human HCT-116 colon cancer cells. Raw MH and digested MH (DMH) were assessed for total polyphenols and flavonoids by spectrophotometric and HPLC-ESI-MS/MS analysis, and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) using different methods. Cell viability, intracellular ROS production, apoptosis, cell cycle and colony formation capacity were tested after treatment with MH or DMH. Results showed that total polyphenols, total flavonoids and TAC were significantly (p < 0.05) reduced after in vitro digestion. In addition, MH and DMH at 8, 16 and 24 mg/mL had similar effects in inducing intracellular ROS production and in inhibiting the colon formation ability; MH induced a more marked apoptosis compared to DMH, while cell cycle was blocked in S phase by MH and in Sub G1 phase by DMH. Our results increase knowledge of the effect of gastrointestinal digestion on the biological effect of honey against colorectal cancer.

Highlights

Colorectal cancer is one of the three most common types of cancer diagnosed in the world and its survival rate is very low; it is, in second place for mortality
Manuka honey (MH) treatment had already been done in our previous in physiological conditions, while in pathological conditions, like cancer, these species can help to work [38], and the results found are almost similar to those obtained in this work
Our results showed that both MH and digested MH (DMH) were able to increase the number of cells in apoptosis, with different behavior

Summary

Introduction

Colorectal cancer is one of the three most common types of cancer diagnosed in the world and its survival rate is very low; it is, in second place for mortality. In addition to alcohol consumption and smoking habits, diet plays a relevant role: it has been confirmed that in obese and/or diabetic subjects the risk of colon cancer onset is much higher and this is associated with high levels of insulin, estrogens, and insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1). The evaluation of the effect of honey on various pathologies has been extensively studied in vitro and its antimicrobial, antidiabetic potential, its protective effect against the cardiovascular, respiratory and gastrointestinal system has been confirmed, as well its anti-proliferative effect against cells derived from different types of cancer, alone or in association with the chemotherapeutic agent commonly used to counteract these neoplasms, finding, in most cases, a synergistic effect [4]. The scientific literature on how the digestion process affects and modifies the bioavailability and bioaccessibility of the compounds responsible for this activity, polyphenols, is scarce

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