Studies on antioxidants and antimeastatic components from spices against cancer

Cancer is a complex multi-step disease, rising constantly in both developing
and developed countries leading to mortality. Developing a strategy for cancer
therapy has been difficult since cancer cell poses lots of challenges to normal
cells by self-regulating their survival and dysregulating normal cellular action.
Antioxidants, quenchers of free radicals - that initiates cancer, chemo/radio
therapeutics, that inhibit proliferative cancer cell, surgery/immuno therapies
that envisage the removal of the affected tissue/cell, have been in practice for
cancer therapy; yet cancer cells find their way successful due the limitations
encountered in these therapies such as lack of discrimination between cancer
cell and a normal cell. Current thesis entitled “Studies on Antioxidants and
Antimetastatic Components from Spices Against Cancer” explores the
possibility of dietary antioxidants and antimetastatic polysaccharides that can
effectively bring down oxidative stress and target galectin-3, a key molecule in
metastasis causing severity of cancer pathogenicity and death as revealed in
scheme - 1. During the study, potential water soluble antioxidants and
antimetastatic polysaccharides from Black cumin – BC - Nigella Sativa and
Swallow root – SR- Decalepis hamiltonii have been identified, characterized
and determined their efficacy in vitro and in vivo. Results indicated tannic
acid and gentisic acid followed by gallic, protocatechuic, and vanillic acid as
major multi-potent antioxidants in BC and SR respectively. SR also found to
contain higher levels of 2-Hydroxy-4-methoxybenzaldehyde (HMBA) but
contributing little to the activity. A potent galectin-3 inhibitory pectic
polysaccharide was also identified in SR - SRPP and structure – function
analysis reveal the presence of higher levels of galactose and arabinose and
their probable contribution to antimetastatic potency. Antioxidants of BC
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and SR and antimetastatic SRPP was effective in inhibiting Reactive oxygen
species - mediated hepatotoxicity/cervical cancer and B16F10 melanoma cells
induced lung metastasis in vivo, suggesting their in vivo efficacy against
cancer. Overall data thus suggest that selected sources have both
antioxidants and antimetastatic components that can effectively inhibit
cancer spread/metastasis.