Lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus (D.C.) Stapf) Presents Antitumoral Effect and Improve Chemotherapy Activity in Prostate Cancer Cells

Background: Prostate cancer is the most common visceral neoplasia in men and frequently present chemotherapy resistance. In this context, lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus (D.C.) Stapf) has been studied, since it presents many important biological activities, such as anticancer. Objective: We investigated the antitumor effect of lemongrass and in chemotherapy activity using prostate cancer cells line (DU-145). Methods: DU-145 cells were exposed to different concentrations of aqueous extract of lemongrass (30; 100; 300; 500 and 1000 μg/mL), isolated and in combination with docetaxel, during 24 and 72 hours. After, cell viability and proliferation, oxidative metabolism, colony formation and cell cycle analyses were performed. Also, we exposed African green monkey kidney cell line (VERO) to the same lemongrass concentrations to investigate a possible toxicity of this extract. Results: Our findings suggested that lemongrass presented an antitumor effect and improved docetaxel chemotherapy activity by decreasing cell viability and proliferation as well as colony formation. Moreover, we found an oxidative stress increased and cell cycle arresting in G0/G1 phase. In addition, this extract presented selectivity action for cancer cells, since it did not cause cytotoxicity in normal cells, ensuring non-toxic therapeutic concentrations. Conclusion: Lemongrass is a promising medicinal plant that could be used during chemotherapeutic treatment, in order to potentiate the antitumor response and decrease the resistance of prostate cancer.

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Reserpine Induces Apoptosis and Cell Cycle Arrest in Hormone Independent Prostate Cancer Cells through Mitochondrial Membrane Potential Failure

Anti-Cancer Agents in Medicinal Chemistry ◽

10.2174/1871520618666180209152215 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 18 (9) ◽

pp. 1313-1322 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Manjula Devi Ramamoorthy ◽

Ashok Kumar ◽

Mahesh Ayyavu ◽

Kannan Narayanan Dhiraviam

Keyword(s):

Prostate Cancer ◽

Reactive Oxygen Species ◽

Cell Cycle ◽

Membrane Potential ◽

Cancer Cells ◽

Mitochondrial Membrane Potential ◽

Mitochondrial Membrane ◽

Reactive Oxygen ◽

Oxygen Species ◽

Prostate Cancer Cells

Background: Reserpine, an indole alkaloid commonly used for hypertension, is found in the roots of Rauwolfia serpentina. Although the root extract has been used for the treatment of cancer, the molecular mechanism of its anti-cancer activity on hormonal independent prostate cancer remains elusive. Methods: we evaluated the cytotoxicity of reserpine and other indole alkaloids, yohimbine and ajmaline on Prostate Cancer cells (PC3) using MTT assay. We investigated the mechanism of apoptosis using a combination of techniques including acridine orange/ethidium bromide staining, high content imaging of Annexin V-FITC staining, flow cytometric quantification of the mitochondrial membrane potential and Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) and cell cycle analysis. Results: Our results indicate that reserpine inhibits DNA synthesis by arresting the cells at the G2 phase and showed all standard sequential features of apoptosis including, destabilization of mitochondrial membrane potential, reduced production of reactive oxygen species and DNA ladder formation. Our in silico analysis further confirmed that indeed reserpine docks to the catalytic cleft of anti-apoptotic proteins substantiating our results. Conclusion: Collectively, our findings suggest that reserpine can be a novel therapeutic agent for the treatment of androgen-independent prostate cancer.

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