Cytotoxic and apoptotic effects of different extracts of Moringa�oleifera Lam on lymphoid and monocytoid cells

Abstract

Moringa oleifera Lam. (MO) is one of the most well-known and widely distributed species of the Moringaceae family in African communities, and various preparations of M. oleifera are used for the treatment of several diseases. Due to the extensive worldwide use of MO products, and the use of MO aqueous extract in traditional African medicine, the aim of the present study was to investigate the anti-proliferative, cytotoxic and pro-apoptotic activities of different aqueous extracts from leaves and seeds of M. oleifera (MOE), which have been prepared using different protocols, in lymphoid and monocytoid cells. The results of the present study demonstrated the anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic effects of the aqueous extracts obtained from M. oleifera leaves and seeds on tumour cells; however, not on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from healthy donors. The pro-apoptotic effect of MO seed aqueous extract (MOE-S) was correlated with decreased B-cell lymphoma 2 (BCL2) and sirtuin-1 (SIRT1) protein expression, which are involved in apoptosis. Considering the effects of plant secondary metabolites on human cells and the role of plant microRNA in cross-kingdom interactions, the presence of secondary metabolites and microRNA in MOE was characterised. In conclusion, M. oleifera aqueous extracts appeared to be able to differentially regulate proliferation and apoptosis in healthy cells and cancer cells, and this ability could be associated with the microRNA present in the extracts. These results highlighted the possible use of MOE as an adjuvant in traditional cancer therapy.

Effect of microvesicles from Moringa oleifera containing miRNA on proliferation and apoptosis in tumor cell lines

“…Previously, MOES treatment was shown to have these toxic effects on different tumor lines but not on PBMCs from HDs, suggesting that MOES treatment may specifically target cancer cells 31 .…”

“…The previous results demonstrated the antiproliferative and proapoptotic effects of MOES on cancer cells. Considering the results published in Potestà et al 31 , we investigated the possible role of miRNAs carried by MOES MVs in these specific mechanisms.…”

“…Starting from the characterization of the M. oleifera miRNome 29 , the presence of specific miRNAs belonging to 20 conserved families of plant miRNAs was evaluated in the mol-sR pool 31 . Here, by qPCR analysis, we detected and quantified the presence of these miRNAs (miRs) in the pool of sRNAs extracted from the MOES MVs.…”

“…In 2016, the miRNome of MO was sequenced, showing the presence of several conserved miRNAs [26][27][28][29][30] . Potestà et al 31 reported that MO seed aqueous extract (MOES), is able to differentially regulate proliferation and apoptosis in healthy and cancer cells and that this ability is associated with the presence of miRNAs.…”

“…Therefore, in the current work the MVs present in the MOES previously studied 31 were extracted and characterized and the ability of these vesicles to enter human tumor cells and induce proapoptotic and antiproliferative effects were investigated.…”