Andiroba oil and nanoemulsion (Carapa guianensis Aublet) reduce lesion severity caused by the antineoplastic agent doxorubicin in mice.

Doxorubicin (DOX) is an anthracycline antibiotic used in the fight against many types of cancer. Although it is quite effective for this purpose, its clinical use is limited by its severe side effects, highlighting the relevance of efforts to identify substances that act to minimize these effects. In this work, we sought to verify the ability of andiroba oil (AO) and a nanoemulsion of andiroba oil (AN) to lessen the side effects of DOX. The animals were separated into 7 groups with 6 animals each: mice treated with AO (2000 mg/kg), AN (2000 mg/kg), the antineoplastic agent DOX (40 mg/kg), AO+DOX, AN+DOX and solvent controls was used of negative control (corn oil and nanoemulsion surfactant). AO and AN were administered for 14 consecutive days orally by gavage and on the 13th day, applied DOX by intraperitoneal route (i.p.), in order to evaluate the protective potential of andiroba. The animals were euthanized on the 15th day. Hematological, biochemical, histological, and immunohistochemical parameters were analyzed. Andiroba reduced several aspects of the severity of lesions caused by DOX, decreasing hematotoxicity and the severity of histological changes in the liver and kidneys, and reducing the frequency of apoptotic cell death. In many cases, AN showed greater efficacy than AO alone, reflecting the feasibility of using this nanotechnology to improve the pharmacokinetics of lipid compounds in the body. The study sheds new light on the therapeutic benefits of andiroba and suggests new ways for investigating how the quantity and quality of lipid compounds affect exposed organisms.

Aqueous ethanol extract of Libidibia ferrea (Mart. Ex Tul) L.P. Queiroz (juca) exhibits antioxidant and migration-inhibiting activity in human gastric adenocarcinoma (ACP02) cells.

Libidibia ferrea (juca) is a plant belonging to the Fabaceae (Leguminosae) family, whose antioxidant activity has been widely described in the literature. We evaluated this parameter of Aqueous ethanol extract (AE), ethyl acetate (ACO), chloroform (CLO) and hexane (HEX) extracts of L. ferrea. We then tested the most active extract for its toxicity and ability to inhibit migratory activity in the ACP02 gastric adenocarcinoma cell line in vitro. The AE and ACO extracts both had antioxidant activity, the AE extract showing greater potential. This may reflect that both extracts contained phenolic compounds. Although AE extract showed no cytotoxic, mutagenic or genotoxic effect, it altered cell morphology and migration activity. Analysis of apoptosis/necrosis indicated that this parameter does not appear to account for the apparent ability of AE to inhibit cancer cell migration. We speculate that the morphological changes in AE-treated cells could be due to cytoskeleton alterations related to the presence of myo-inositol in AE extract. Together, our results demonstrate this extract of L. ferrea can act as an exogenous antioxidant and might prove useful in efforts to fight secondary tumors.