Dietary Crocin is Protective in Pancreatic Cancer while Reducing Radiation-Induced Hepatic Oxidative Damage

Abstract

<jats:p>Pancreatic cancer is one of the fatal causes of global cancer-related deaths. Although surgery and chemotherapy are standard treatment options, post-treatment outcomes often end in a poor prognosis. In the present study, we investigated anti-pancreatic cancer and amelioration of radiation-induced oxidative damage by crocin. Crocin is a carotenoid isolated from the dietary herb saffron, a prospect for novel leads as an anti-cancer agent. Crocin significantly reduced cell viability of BXPC3 and Capan-2 by triggering caspase signaling via the downregulation of Bcl-2. It modulated the expression of cell cycle signaling proteins P53, P21, P27, CDK2, c-MYC, Cyt-c and P38. Concomitantly, crocin treatment-induced apoptosis by inducing the release of cytochrome c from mitochondria to cytosol. Microarray analysis of the expression signature of genes induced by crocin showed a substantial number of genes involved in cell signaling pathways and checkpoints (723) are significantly affected by crocin. In mice bearing pancreatic tumors, crocin significantly reduced tumor burden without a change in body weight. Additionally, it showed significant protection against radiation-induced hepatic oxidative damage, reduced the levels of hepatic toxicity and preserved liver morphology. These findings indicate that crocin has a potential role in the treatment, prevention and management of pancreatic cancer.</jats:p>

Crocin treatment improves testosterone induced benign prostatic hyperplasia in rats

“…In addition, crocin treatment down-regulated the mRNA expression of PCNA and reduced the prostate epithelial thicknessin the BPH group, indicating that crocin has an anti-proliferative effect in experimentally induced BPH. It was reported that crocin inhibits the proliferation of several types of carcinoma cells, including breast, prostate, gastric, colon,and pancreatic cancer [20,[25][26][27]. Different mechanisms for the anti-proliferation effect of crocin have been proposed.…”

“…Different mechanisms for the anti-proliferation effect of crocin have been proposed. Crocin was found to hinder the proliferation of different types of cancer cells through inhibition of cell cycle progression [20,25], induction of apoptosis [16,17,20,25], and by disrupting the microtubule network [27].…”

“…One week of adaptation to the laboratory environment in the animal house (25 • C, 40-60% humidity) was adopted for all experimental animals,then the rats were divided into three equal groups (n = 10/group): the normalcontrol group received corn oil only,the second group (testosterone-induced BPH) received testosterone injection subcutaneously (3 mg/kg dissolved in corn oilfor two weeks (testosterone enanthate 250 mg, Primoteston-Depot©, Schering, Germany). Finally, the third group was injected with testosterone for the BPH induction and treated with crocin (CAS-No 42553-65-1, Sigma, Missouri, USA) (100 mg/kg dissolved in de-ionized waterand administrated orally) for 14 days [19,20]. Afterthat, animals were anesthetized using ether and their prostates were removed immediately for further analysis.…”

Advancing of Cellular Signaling Pathways in Respiratory Diseases Using Nanocarrier Based Drug Delivery Systems

“…Other causes may be air pollution, workplace exposure to certain chemicals such as asbestos, nickel, chromium, radioactive gases like radon etc. [48][49][50][51]. The hallmark of lung cancer, like most other cancers, is characterized by abnormal and uncontrolled cell division, which invades nearby tissues, primarily in the lining of air passages [52].…”

<p>Chrysophanol Inhibits the Progression of Diabetic Nephropathy via Inactivation of TGF-β Pathway</p>

“…P53 and CDK2 are known to be key mediators in cell cycle distribution. 34,35 In addition, upregulation of p53 could lead to G1 phase arrest in cells. 36,37 A previous report found that Smad3 promotes acute kidney injury (AKI) sensitivity in diabetic mice via binding to p53.…”