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Antitumor effects of Auraptene in 4T1 tumor‐bearing Balb/c mice

  • Mohammad Reza. Shiran , Davar Amani , Abolghasem Ajami , Mahshad Jalalpourroodsari , Maghsoud Khalizadeh and Mohsen Rashidi EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: March 8, 2021

Abstract

Objectives

Breast cancer is a common malignant tumor in women with limited treatment options and multiple side effects. Today, the anti-cancer properties of natural compounds have attracted widespread attention from researchers worldwide.

Methods

In this study, we treated 4T1 tumor-bearing Balb/c mice with intraperitoneal injection of Auraptene, paraffin oil, and saline as two control groups. Body weight and tumor volume were measured before and after treatment. Hematoxylin and eosin (H & E) staining and immunohistochemistry of Ki-67 were used as markers of proliferation. In addition, ELISA assays were performed to assess serum IFN-γ and IL-4 levels.

Results

There was no significant change in body weight in all animal groups before and after treatment. 10 days after the last treatment, Auraptene showed its anti-cancer effect, which was confirmed by the smaller tumor volume and H & E staining. In addition, Ki-67 expression levels were significantly reduced in tumor samples from the Auraptene-treated group compared to the paraffin oil and saline-treated groups. In addition, in tumor-bearing and normal mice receiving Auraptene treatment, IL-4 serum production levels were reduced, while serum levels of IFN-γ were significantly up-regulated in tumor-bearing mice after Auraptene treatment.

Conclusions

In the case of inhibition of tumor volume and Ki-67 proliferation markers, Auraptene can effectively inhibit tumor growth in breast cancer animal models. In addition, it might increases Th1 and CD8 + T cell responses after reducing IL-4 serum levels and IFN-γ upregulation, respectively. However, further research is needed to clarify its mechanism of action.


Corresponding author: Mohsen Rashidi, Assistant Professor of Pharmacology, Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran; and The Health of Plant and Livestock Products Research Center, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran, E-mail:

Funding source: Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran

  1. Research funding: This work was supported by Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran (Ethical ID: IR.MAZUMS.REC.1398.3616 Grant ID: 3616).

  2. Author contributions: All authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission.

  3. Competing interests: Authors state no conflict of interest.

  4. Informed consent: Not applicable.

  5. Ethical approval: All animal experiments were performed in accordance with the Principles for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals approved by the Ethics Committee of the Mazandaran Medical University (Code: IR.MAZUMS.REC.1398.3616). All animals had free access to food and purified water and are kept under standard light and temperature conditions. After intraperitoneal administration of ketamine (80 mg/kg) and xylazine (8 mg/kg), the animals were sacrificed by cervical dislocation.

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Received: 2020-12-13
Accepted: 2021-02-18
Published Online: 2021-03-08

© 2021 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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