Affiliations 

  • 1 Department of Biological Sciences, School of Science and Technology, Sunway University, Malaysia. Electronic address: ruqaiyyahs@sunway.edu.my
  • 2 Department of Biological Sciences, School of Science and Technology, Sunway University, Malaysia
  • 3 Department of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Aga Khan University, Pakistan
Exp Parasitol, 2017 Dec;183:194-200.
PMID: 28917711 DOI: 10.1016/j.exppara.2017.09.008

Abstract

Crocodiles exist in unsanitary environments, feed on rotten meat, are often exposed to heavy metals such as arsenic, cadmium, cobalt, chromium, mercury, nickel, lead, selenium, tolerate high levels of radiation, and are amid the very few species to survive the catastrophic Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event, nonetheless they can live for up to a 100 years. Moreover, as they live in unhygienic conditions, they regularly come across pathogens. Logically, we postulate that crocodiles possess mechanisms to defend themselves from noxious agents as well as protecting themselves from pathogens. To test this hypothesis, various organ lysates and serum of Crocodylus palustris were prepared. Amoebicidal assays were performed using Acanthamoeba castellanii belonging to the T4 genotype. Cytotoxicity assays were performed using Prostate cancer cells culture by measuring lactate dehydrogenase release as a marker for cell death. Growth inhibition assays were performed to determine the growth inhibitory effects of various organ lysates. Serum and heart lysates of Crocodylus palustris exhibited powerful anti-tumor activity exhibiting more than 70% Prostate cancer cell death (P 

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.