curcumin and arabinogalactan

Pharmaceutical solid dispersions (SD) of curcumin (Cur) with macromolecule polysaccharide arabinogalactan (AG) from wood of Larix sibirica were prepared by mechanical ball milling. The physical properties of the dispersed curcumin mixture in solid state were characterized by scanning electron microscope, differential scanning calorimetry and powder X-ray diffraction studies. These methods showed a strong decrease in the degree of crystallinity of Cur and its transformation to amorphization state, accompanied by the formation of the guest-host type complexes. The behavior of the samples in solutions was characterized by reverse phase HPLC,

Topics: Biological Availability; Calorimetry, Differential Scanning; Cell Line, Tumor; Chemical Phenomena; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Curcumin; Drug Stability; Galactans; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; Molecular Weight; Solubility; X-Ray Diffraction

Increased mortality associated with breast cancer in women has spurred the studies to develop new drugs. Arabinogalactan (AG) and curcumin (Cur) are two natural products broadly explored in cancer therapy. Our major goal in the current study was to assess anticancer properties of combination these reagents in vitro on human breast cancer cells and in vivo utilizing animal model of breast cancer.. We evaluated cell proliferation, apoptosis, cell cycle, and protein expression in vitro on MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cells. For in vivo studies, murine breast cancer cells were implanted into BALB/c mice. Thereafter, volume of the developing tumor was calculated and expression of Ki67 and p53 proteins was evaluated to analyze cell proliferation and apoptosis.. Combination of AG and Cur significantly decreased cell growth in human breast cancer cells without any significant effect on normal cell growth. This combination could increase cell population in sub-G1 phase, which was indicative of apoptosis. Western blotting showed that the combination of AG and Cur significantly increased Bax/Bcl2 ratio as well as cleaved-caspase3 level in MDA-MB-231 cells. Combination of AG and Cur promoted apoptosis by increasing ROS level, changing mitochondrial membrane and reduction of glutathione. In addition, in vivo studies in mouse showed that this combination could inhibit the progression of breast tumors through over-expression of p53 and reduction of Ki67 levels.. Our findings suggest that the combination of AG and Cur is of great potential to induce apoptosis in breast cancer cells in vitro and in vivo.

Topics: Animals; Apoptosis; Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins; Breast Neoplasms; Cell Line, Tumor; Cell Nucleus; Cell Proliferation; Curcumin; Female; G1 Phase; Galactans; Glutathione; Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells; Humans; Intracellular Space; Membrane Potential, Mitochondrial; Mice, Inbred BALB C; Nitric Oxide; Organ Size; Reactive Oxygen Species; Staining and Labeling; Tumor Suppressor Protein p53; Weight Gain