Amygdalin/chitosan-polyvinyl alcohol/cerium-tannic acid hydrogel as biodegradable long-time implant for cancer recurrence care applications: An in vitro study.

Cancer recurrence following surgery is a serious and worrying problem for the patient. Common treatment strategies, such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery, are restricted because of low uptake of the drugs, poor pharmacokinetic properties, and toxicity issues for healthy tissues. The development of engineering platforms for improving the postoperative treatment of cancer can help solve this problem. In this study, the ceria-tannic acid nanoparticles (CeTA-NPs) were successfully synthesized and characterized. Chitosan-polyvinyl/alcohol (CS-PVA) hydrogels containing CeTA NPs (CS-PVA/CeTA) and amygdalin as an anticancer substance were fabricated using freeze-thaw and immersion-drying techniques. The swelling and degradation behaviors, antibacterial activity, and biocompatibility of as-prepared hydrogel were done. The apoptotic effects of amygdalin/CS-PVA/CeTA hydrogel were evaluated by flow cytometry technique on a human colorectal cancer (SW-480) cell line. The CeTA-NPs were investigated as antibacterial and cross-linker agents for greater stability of the hydrogel network. The CS-PVA/CeTA hydrogel demonstrated good safety and antibacterial activity. The results of swelling and biodegradation suggest that CS-PVA/CeTA hydrogels can inspire long-time application. The anticancer effects of the amygdalin/CS-PVA/CeTA hydrogel were confirmed by apoptosis results. Hence, amygdalin/CS-PVA/CeTA hydrogel can be a promising candidate for long-time biomedical application.

Decrease of intracellular ROS by arbutin is associated with apoptosis induction and downregulation of IL-1ß and TNF-α in LNCaP; prostate cancer.

Increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) along with inflammation are involved in the prostate cancer (PCa). Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the molecular mechanisms that were affected by arbutin as an antioxidant on prostate cancer cell line; LNCap. The intracellular ROS measurement confirmed that arbutin significantly (p < .05) decreased the ROS levels in a dose-dependent manner. Detection of cell death profile established that 1,000 µM of arbutin could remarkably induced apoptosis (p < .05), while tert-butyl hydroperoxide (tBHP) as ROS inducer prompted necrosis. In addition, 1,000 µM of arbutin successfully decreased expressions of IL-1ß and TNF-α genes (p < .05). Furthermore, evaluation of the IL-1ß protein level showed that arbutin could significantly decrease this cytokine (p < .05). In summary, reduction of ROS along with increasing apoptosis and decreasing expression of pro-inflammatory genes following arbutin treatment can open new visions in the treatment of prostate cancer using complementary medicine. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Nowadays, arbutin as a glycosylated hydroquinone is available commercially in both natural and synthetic forms. Arbutin is of interest because of its skin-lightening effect, and used in cosmetic products for cutaneous hyperpigmentation. Arbutin inhibited tyrosinase in melanocytes competitively. Moreover, arbutin was able to attenuate oxidative stress and, its anti-inflammatory activities has been established. In addition, arbutin has represented useful activities for suppression of malignant melanoma development. In addition, arbutin exhibits several pharmacological effects, including antimicrobial, antihyperlipidemic, antihyperglycemic, and alpha amylase inhibitory effects. In this study, we showed its effect on prostate cancer in vitro. Therefore, it opens new insights in the complementary medicine that can maintain or improve human health.