Introduction: Hepatocellular carcinoma is one of the most common cancers that affected human in more than half of the world population. Although there is yet any alternatives treatment found for this disease, the antitumor property of thymoquinone has been well studied in most of cancer cell lines. Nonetheless, poor bioavailability of TQ limits its efficiency. The encapsulation form of TQ, TQ-NLC is suggested to enhance its bioavailability as well as cytotoxicity towards cancer cells via increasing resistance time and targeting drug to specified location in the body. Therefore, it is a great advantage to look at the effects of TQ-NLC towards HepG2. This study is design to look at the anti-pro- liferative effect of TQ-NLC on HepG2 and the changes in the cells morphology. Methods: Both cells were bought from ATCC and cultured in supplemented DMEM. Cell viability was determined via MTT assay. Pro-apoptotic effect of TQ-NLC was further confirmed with Annexin V staining. Morphology hallmarks of apoptosis of treated cells were also analysed using inverted microscope. Images were captured at 24, 48 and 72 hours. Results: TQ-NLC was very potent towards HepG2 compared to 3T3 with the relative IC50 of 25 µM. TQ-NLC was also more potent compared to the non-encapsulated form, TQ. Further analysis confirmed that TQ-NLC capable to increase the percentage of apoptotic cells in time-dependent manner. Qualitatively, all treated cells displayed the apoptosis morphology with increasing concentration and longer time-point. Conclusion: TQ-NLC showed greater cytotoxic effects towards HepG2 which was further confirmed with the morphological analysis.
Introduction: Curcumin is an active constituent derived from turmeric with a variety of pharmacological activities. It suppressed cell proliferation and induced apoptosis in several cancer cell lines. However, due to its poor bio- availability, derivative analogue of curcumin has been synthesized to enhance the drug-like effects. BHMC was synthesized by removing β-diketone moiety from curcumin structure and modify it into conjugated double bonds. It has been proved to exhibit stronger anticancer effects with improved bioavailability compared to curcumin. Ob- jective: This study aims to investigate the toxicity effect of BHMC and curcumin on human liver cancer, HepG2 and non-cancer mouse fibroblast, 3T3. Methods: Both cell lines were purchased from ATCC and cultured in sup- plemented DMEM. Cell viability was determined via MTT assay and confirmed with trypan blue assay. Morphology hallmarks of apoptosis of both treated cells were analyzed using inverted microscope at 40X magnifications. Results: BHMC and curcumin were very potent towards HepG2 and normal 3T3. These data were further confirmed with trypan blue assay which showed that both compounds significantly reduced the percentage of HepG2 and 3T3 cells viability. Both treated cells also displayed all the morphology hallmarks of apoptosis upon treatment. Conclusion: BHMC has a greater cytotoxicity effect on HepG2 compared to curcumin despite its non-selective cytotoxicity effect on non-cancer 3T3.
Ulcers in the gastrointestinal tract refer to any appreciable depth of break in the mucosa lining that may involve submucosa. Common types of ulcer include peptic, gastric and duodenal ulcer, which may lead to chronic inflammation. Ulcers may be caused by excessive alcohol intake or prolonged use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID), in addition to several other factors. Conventional medication such as Omeprazole (proton pump inhibitor) and Ranitidine (H2 blockers) for management of ulcers may cause severe side effects such as myelosupression and abnormal heart rhythm. This has driven researchers to explore the potential of natural products for management of ulcers with reduced side effects. Kelulut honey (KH) is a type of honey that is produced by stingless bees from the Trigona species. It is believed to have a lot of medicinal properties such as being antimicrobial, antioxidant and antidiabetic. Yet, no scientific study has been carried out on its antiulcer properties. This study was carried out to determine the antiulcer properties of KH. Eighteen male Sprague dawley rats (5 to 6 weeks old, weighing between 200 and 300 g) were divided into three groups (n=6). The groups were 1) normal control group (without ulcer, without KH), 2) positive control group (with ulcer, without KH) and 3) treatment group (with ulcer, treated with KH). The treatment, KH (1183 mg/kg), was given twice daily for 30 consecutive days by oral administration. On Day 31, the rats were induced with absolute ethanol (5 mL/kg) via oral administration after being fasted for 24 h and were sacrificed 15 min after the induction. The stomach was collected for macroscopic and histopathological evaluation. Pretreatment with KH significantly reduced (p