Breast cancer is the leading factor of mortality among women globally. According to the World Health Organization (2015), breast cancer is the second most common cancer after lung cancer; and contributes to nearly 15% of all cancer death among women in 2015. Moringa oleifera (M. oleifera) is a highly nutritious vegetable with various therapeutic benefits including anticancer. The therapeutic benefits are attributed to its bioactive compounds. Thus, study on the bioactive compounds of M. oleifera using various extraction methods with different extracting solvents have been the main focus of many researchers. Methods: The current study was carried out using Ultrasound Assisted Sequential Extraction (UASE) method and three extracting solvents (99.7% ethanol, 50% ethanol and deionised water) with ascending polarity. The yielded extracts were tested for possible anticancer effects against human breast adenocarcinoma cell line, MCF-7 and non-tumorigenic cell line, MCF-10A using microtitrate tetrazolium (MTT) assay. Results: The IC50 values of the 99.7% ethanol, 50% ethanol and deionised water extracts were 25, 200 and 180 μg/mL, respectively. Conclusion: M. oleifera could be a potential preventative and/or therapeutic agent for breast cancer, either used alone or as an adjunct to the standard chemotherapeutic drugs.
More studies are now focusing on vitamin E as an anticancer agent for its good effects in many in-vitro studies. Current studies proposed that vitamin E might be a suitable candidate as an alternative treatment for cancer due to its antioxidant properties. Vitamin E act as an antioxidant by their long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, and thus the integrity of membranes in the cells is maintained and consequently retain the bioactivity of the cells. This mini review will focus on the activity of vitamin E as an antioxidant to protect against cancer in in-vitro, in-vivo, and clin- ical studies. Although most studies reported great outcomes for the anticancer activity of vitamin E, there were some conflicting data. To date, studies on effects of vitamin E are still undergoing where researchers are still debating on the positive and negative effects of vitamin E as an anticancer therapeutic action.
Melastoma is a genus that belongs to the Melastomataceae family and consists of 50–70 species distributed around India, Southeast Asia, Australia and the Pacific Island. Numerous species of this plant show potential therapeutic purposes. This review summarizes the scientific findings on the ethnobotanical uses, phytochemistry and pharma- cological activities of Melastoma sp. The leaves of Melastoma sp. was widely used by Asian as decoction for the remedy of gastrointestinal disorder apart from root, which was consumed as juice for skin diseases, fever and pain. Majority of the scientific studies focused on M. malabathricum showing high antimicrobial activity towards selected gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria from different parts of the plant. In vitro studies showed that Melastoma sp. possessed anti-coagulant, antioxidant, antiproliferative and immunomodulatory activities. Apart from in vitro, various in vivo studies have been conducted involving methanolic leaf extracts using Sprague Dawley rats for inhi- bition of anti-ulcer, anti-nociceptive, anti-inflammatory, anti-carcinogenic and anti-diabetic activities. Flavonoids, triterpenes, tannins, saponins and steroids are the main classes of secondary metabolites identified from Melastoma sp. Kaempferol derivatives exhibited significant main constituents from the flowers and leaves using various semi polar solvent extracts. Few phytosterols were also isolated from the leaves extract albeit the absence of alkaloids. This review shows that Melastoma sp. is an important genus of Melastomataceae family, however, the phytochemical and pharmacological findings of various species in this genus are still limited, indicating a great opportunity to explore new therapeutic activities with novel bioactive constituents.
The development and application of organic based drug carrier in drug delivery system (DDSs) with greater efficacy and
fewer side effects remains a significant challenge in modern scientific and medical research. The aim of current study
was to evaluate the ability of β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) as drug delivery carrier to encapsulate Curcumin (CUR), a promising
chemotherapeutic that exhibits low aqueous solubility and poor bioavailability forming inclusion complex by kneading
method to enhance its delivery to cancer cells. Different methods and analysis such as Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR)
spectrometer, 1
H Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (1
H NMR), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM)
and Thermo-gravimetric Analysis (TGA) were employed to approve the successful formation of the inclusion complex
where the aromatic ring of CUR has been encapsulated by the hydrophobic cavity of β-CD. UV absorption indicated that
β-CD complex with CUR with an apparent formation constant of 1.09 × 10-8mol-1dm-3. Based on the data obtained by
methylthiazole tetrazolium (MTT), β-CD showed that not only did it enhanced Curcumin delivery, but it also improved
and promoted the anti-proliferative effect of CUR during the complexation rather than CUR alone on the MCF-7 human
breast cancer cells at 24 h incubation period with IC50 lower than that of Curcumin alone. The toxicities of the β-CD-CUR
towards MCF-7 cells were also compared to the free tamoxifen, Curcumin and β-CD. This study provides a preliminary
toxicity evaluation based on β-CD-CUR inclusion complex as potential delivery system towards the selected cancer cells.