Chemopreventive and anti-tumor potential of vitamin E in preclinical breast cancer studies: A systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Vitamin E has been investigated for its antitumor potential, including the ability to change cancer gene pathways as well as promote antioxidant and pro-oxidant activity. OBJECTIVE: Therefore, this systematic review aimed to evaluate antitumor and chemopreventive activity of different vitamin E isoforms (tocopherols and tocotrienols) through in vitro and in vivo studies. METHOD: The systematic review was registered in PROSPERO (No. CRD4202126207) and the search was carried out in four electronic databases (PubMed, Science Direct, Scopus and Web of Science) in June 2021 by three independent reviewers. The search equation used was: "Supplementation" AND ("Vitamin E" OR Tocopherol OR Tocotrienol) AND "breast cancer" AND (chemotherapy OR therapy OR prevention). In vitro studies and animal models of breast cancer supplemented with tocopherol or tocotrienol vitamers, alone or in combination, were included. RESULTS: The results revealed 8546 relevant studies that were initially identified in our search. After analysis, a total of 12 studies were eligible for this systematic review. All studies included animal models, and 5 of them also performed in vitro experiments on cancer cell lines. The studies performed supplementation with tocopherols, mixtures (tocopherols and tocotrienols) and synthetic vitamin E forms. There was an significant association of estradiol, dendritic cells and pterostilbene in combined therapy with vitamin E. Vitamin E delayed tumor development, reduced tumor size, proliferation, viability, expression of anti-apoptotic and cell proliferation genes, and upregulated pro-apoptotic genes, tumor suppressor genes and increased immune response. The effects on oxidative stress markers and antioxidant activity were conflicting among studies. Only one study with synthetic vitamin E reported cardiotoxicity, but it did not show vitamin E genotoxicity. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, vitamin E isoforms, isolated or associated, showed antitumor and chemopreventive activity. However, due to studies heterogeneity, there is a need for further analysis to establish dose, form, supplementation time and breast cancer stage.

Polyurethane derived from castor oil monoacylglyceride (Ricinus communis) for bone defects reconstruction: characterization and in vivo testing.

Biomaterials used in tissue regeneration processes represent a promising option for the versatility of its physical and chemical characteristics, allowing for assisting or speeding up the repair process stages. This research has characterized a polyurethane produced from castor oil monoacylglyceride (Ricinus communis L) and tested its effect on reconstructing bone defects in rat calvaria, comparing it with commercial castor oil polyurethane. The characterizations of the synthesized polyurethane have been performed by spectroscopy in the infrared region with Fourier transform (FTIR); thermogravimetric analysis (TG/DTG); X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). For the in vivo test, 24 animals have been used, divided into 3 groups: untreated group (UG); control group treated with Poliquil® castor polyurethane (PCP) and another group treated with castor polyurethane from the Federal University of Piauí - UFPI (CPU). Sixteen weeks after surgery, samples of the defects were collected for histological and histomorphometric analysis. FTIR analysis has shown the formation of monoacylglyceride and polyurethane. TG and DTG have indicated thermal stability of around 125 °C. XRD has determined the semi-crystallinity of the material. The polyurethane SEM has shown a smooth morphology with areas of recesses. Histological and histomorphometric analyzes have indicated that neither CPU nor PCP induced a significant inflammatory process, and CPU has shown, statistically, better performance in bone formation. The data obtained shows that CPU can be used in the future for bone reconstruction in the medical field.