Evening Primrose Oil Enhances Tamoxifen's Anticancer Activity against Breast Cancer Cells by Inducing Apoptosis, Inhibiting Angiogenesis, and Arresting the Cell Cycle.

BACKGROUND: Despite advancements in cancer treatment, breast cancer (BC) is still one of the leading causes of death among women. The majority of anti-breast-cancer medications induce serious side effects and multidrug resistance. Although several natural compounds, such as evening primrose oil (EPO), have been shown to have anticancer properties when used alone, their combination with the anticancer medicine tamoxifen (TAM) has yet to be investigated. The present study aimed to investigate the anticancer efficacy of EPO, alone or in combination with TAM, in the BC cell lines MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231, as well as to elucidate the mechanism of action. METHODS: The MTT assay was used to investigate the cytotoxic effect of EPO on the two cell lines, and we discovered an acceptable IC50 that was comparable to TAM. The ELISA, qRT-PCR, flow cytometry and colorimetric techniques were used. RESULTS: The combination of EPO and TAM suppressed the VEGF level, VEGF gene expression and Cyclin D1 signaling pathways, arrested the cell cycle, and induced the apoptotic signaling pathways by increasing the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio and caspase 3 activity; this revealed significant anti-tumor activity. CONCLUSIONS: The most significant finding of this study was the confirmation of the anticancer activity of the natural product EPO, which potentiated the activity of the anticancer drug TAM against MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 BC cell lines through the induction of apoptosis, inhibiting angiogenesis and halting cell proliferation.

Novel berberine-loaded hyalurosomes as a promising nanodermatological treatment for vitiligo: Biochemical, biological and gene expression studies.

Vitiligo is a depigmentation disorder that affects 0.5-2% of the world population. It has a severe impact on a patient's quality of life and even causes suicidal attempts. Up to date, no curative therapy is available which have created a substantial demand for novel vitiligo treatments. Berberine (BRB) is an isoquinoline alkaloid with promising pharmacological effects. However, it suffers from poor membrane permeability hindering its topical application. The current work is the first to design and assess topical BRB-loaded hyalurosomes for targeted vitiligo treatment. BRB-hyalurosomes are hyaluronan-immobilized phospholipid nanovesicles that showed promising invitro physicochemical properties. Novel ex vivo studies were performed using full-thickness human skin to mimic its dermal application. Furthermore, in-vivo studies were conducted using a vitiligo-induced mouse model followed by biochemical, histological and immunohistochemical investigations. In addition, gene expression of skin inflammatory markers was assessed using quantitative reverse-transcription PCR. Biological studies showed significant improvement of the biochemical markers in BRB-hyalurosomes group compared to the vitiligo-model group and BRB conventional gel. It is worthy to mention that placebo hyalurosomes demonstrated significant enhancement in the biological activity confirming its intrinsic activity. Conclusively, BRB-hyalurosomes is considered a novel nanodermatological tool that paving the way for its clinical application for vitiligo treatment.

Baicalin; a promising chemopreventive agent, enhances the antitumor effect of 5-FU against breast cancer and inhibits tumor growth and angiogenesis in Ehrlich solid tumor.

Despite considerable advances in cancer treatment, chemotherapy remains a cornerstone in breast cancer therapy. Therefore, reducing chemoresistance and adverse effects of chemotherapy is a priority. In this regard, Baicalin (BA) is the dominant natural flavonoid extracted from the roots of Scutellaria baicalensis showed fascinating antitumor activity in many types of cancers, including breast cancer. The present study aimed to explore the chemopreventive and antitumor action of baicalin alone and in combination with 5-FU in addition to its ability to enhance the antitumor effect of 5-FU on breast cancer using the Ehrlich solid tumor-mice model. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 70 female mice were divided into seven groups (1st group, saline group; 2nd group, DMSO group; 3rd group, BA+EST group; 4th group, EST group; 5th group, EST+5-FU; 6th group, EST+BA group; 7th group, EST+5-FU+BA).tumors were assessed by weight and histopathological examination. Inflammation, angiogenesis, and apoptosis were examined by ELISA, qRT-PCR, and immunohistochemical examinations. RESULTS: showed that pre-treatment with baicalin and treatment with baicalin and/or 5-FU significantly reduced inflammation and angiogenesis indicated by suppression of NF-kB/ IL-1ß and VEGF amplification loop with marked elevation in apoptosis indicated by up-regulation of apoptotic caspase-3, pro-apoptotic p53, Bax and downregulation of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2. CONCLUSION: BA is a promising preventive or adjuvant therapy in breast cancer treatment with 5-FU mainly via cooperative inhibition of inflammation, angiogenesis, and triggering apoptotic cell death.

Fingerprint profile and efficacy-associated markers of Nigella sativa oil for geographical origin determination using targeted and untargeted HPTLC-multivariate analysis.

Efficacy directed-fingerprint analysis of high-performance thin layer chromatography is proposed to set up fingerprint activity relationship modeling for precise discrimination of chemical and effective consistency of Nigella sativa oils from different geographical origins. A whole of 27 samples of N. sativa oils from three geographical area (Egypt, Ethiopia and Syria) were collected and their antimicrobial, cytotoxic, anti-inflammatory and analgesic activities were measured. The results revealed that there was significant difference in the biological activities of the oils collected. The fingerprints of the samples had been established by high performance thin layer chromatography, subsequently the data had been utilized for the discrimination of the samples geographical origin. The loading plots of HPTLC-Principal Component Analysis (PCA) had been used to discover the crucial marker ingredients for classification. Furthermore, targeted chemical fingerprints had been established by HPTLC, and discriminant analyses were calculated depending on five common characteristic peaks. The chosen markers were quantified by validated HPTLC methods, and then the quantitative data as well as the oils bioactive properties were subjected to partial least squares regression (PLSR) analyses. Thymoquinone and free fatty acids (FFA) were revealed as potential markers to distinguish the chemical consistency and efficacy of the oils from the three different geographical origins. The suggested technique provides an applicable integrated strategy to screen for efficacy-associated markers for discrimination of N. sativa oils from distinctive geographical origins exploiting HPTLC fingerprint activity relationship modeling.