Cytotoxic Effect of Bitter Melon (Momordica charantia L.) Ethanol Extract and Its Fractions on Pancreatic Cancer Cells in vitro

Abstract

IntroductionPancreatic cancer (PC) is the fourth most lethal form of cancer in Western society, with mortality closely mirroring incidence and an overall 5-year survival of less than 7%. 1,2 Upon diagnosis, only 20% of patients are eligible for surgery, the only potential cure to date, with the remainder in advanced stages of the disease.Surgery is invasive due to the physical location of the pancreas and is often used as a treatment option in combination with chemotherapy. Despite this, a majority of patients who undergo surgery suffer a relapse from metastatic disease or experience comorbidities such as venothromboembolic disease. 3-5 Chemotherapy for PC patients involves treatment with agents such as the standard chemotherapeutic anti-metabolite drug gemcitabine (a pyrimidine analogue), or adjuvant therapy with additional agents such as the anti-tubulin agent nab-paclitaxel that can block nuclear division, causing cell death. 3,6,7 Combination drug 5-fluorouracil/folinic acid, irinotecan and oxaliplatin (FOLFIRINOX) is also a common treatment option but despite better response and survival rates than with single-agent gemcitabine treatment, FOLFIRINOX has greater levels of toxicity. 3 Chemotherapy outcomes are varied due to physical and genetic obstacles of PC that cause complications, as they can Keywords: Bitter melon; Pancreatic cancer; Herbal medicine. Abbreviations: AE, aescin equivalent; BMJ, bitter melon juice; CCK-8, Cell Counting Kit-8; CE, crude ethanol extract; CuB, Cucurbitacin B; F1, fraction 1; F2, fraction 2; F3, fraction 3; FBS, fetal bovine serum; GI50, minimum 50% growth inhibitory concentration; HPDE, human pancreatic ductal epithelial; HPLC, high-pressure liquid chromatography; L-Glu, L-glutamine; PBS, phosphate-buffered saline; PC, pancreatic cancer; SE, saponin-enriched extract. Cytotoxic Effect of Bitter Melon (Momordica charantia L.) Ethanol Extract and Its Fractions on Pancreatic Cancer Cells in vitro AbstractBackground and objectives: The incidence of pancreatic cancer (PC) closely matches mortality, with current therapies ineffective often due to late diagnosis and difficulties in drug delivery. Bitter melon (Momordica charantia, Cucurbitaceae) has been traditionally used as an herbal medicine, particularly for the treatment of diabetes, in South East Asian countries. The aim of this study was to investigate the anti-PC potential of a crude ethanol extract (CE) and its enriched fractions.

The Cytotoxic Effect of Ethanol Extract of Momordica Charantia, Kuguacin-J and Cisplatin on Healthy MCF-10A and MCF-7 and MDAMB-231 Breast Cancer Cell Lines in Vitro

“…The results of this study have demonstrated that the active anticancer ingredient(s) from the green succulent fruit in M. charantia is ethanol soluble and several studies have employed the same procedure in preparing the extracts which are highly e cacious in treating other diseases successfully including diabetes and cancer [15,19,35]. In the present study, both low and high doses of the MC ethanol extract and K-J had no effect on the viability of healthy MCF-10A breast cell lines compared to cisplatin which killed over 60% of the cells after 24 hours of treatment.…”

Aktivitas Sitotoksik Ekstrak Etanol, Fraksi Etanol-Air, Etil Asetat serta N-Heksana Buah Pare (Momordica charantia) pada Sel MCF-7 secara In-Vitro

“…Asam 3,24,25,26,26,7,23trione yang diperoleh dari ekstrak metanol buah pare memiliki aktivitas sitotoksik terhadap sel kanker hati HepG2 dengan IC50 >100 µM (Hen et al, 2010). Cucurbitacin B diperoleh dari ekstrak etanol buah pare dan memiliki aktivitas sitotoksik terhadap sel kanker pankreas HPDE dan MiaPaCa2 dengan GI50 masing-masing 939,1 μg/mL dan 516,5 μg/mL (Richmond et al, 2017).…”