A spice used in kitchen and traditional medicine by many Middle Eastern countries and also in India especially Kashmir may help in the fight against pancreatic cancer, one of the most difficult cancers to treat. Hamid Bakshi at maternal Health Hospital and Research Centre, Hyderabad, has found that crocin, an extract of Crocus sativus, blocked pancreatic cancer cell growth and killed the cells by enhancing the programmed cell death.
While the studies are in the early stages, the findings suggest that crocin could eventually have some use as a preventive strategy in patients who have gone through surgery and chemotherapy or in individuals who are at a high risk of developing cancer.
According to Bakshi, crocus sativus helps to treat a broad array of diseases, including some immune and inflammatory disorders. Previous studies also have shown anticancer activity in prostate and colon cancers, as well as antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects.
Using a human pancreatic cancer cell line, Bakshi found that adding crocin killed approximately 80% of the cancer cells. He demonstrated that crocin triggered programmed cell death in the cells, and that a number of important genes, including p53, Bax, bcl-2 and p21, were affected. Bakshi found that expression of p53, a tumor suppressor gene, and Bax, a gene that promotes programmed cell death, was increased, while bcl-2, which blocks such cell death, was deceased. The p21 gene, which is involved in the regulation of different phases of the cell cycle, was substantially increased.
Hamid Bakshi also found that crocin caused `epigenetic' changes in pancreatic cancer cells, modifying the cells' DNA. He explains that these changes involve adding acetyl groups to the DNA structure, specifically to blocks of proteins called histones. This `acetylation' process can be important for genes to be read and translated into proteins. In this case, it could involve the genes that are a key to initiating programmed cell death.
`we looked at the status of the histones and found surprisingly that crocin increased the acetylation process. We never anticipated that..' said Bakshi.
At the same time, adding crocin to pancreatic cancer cells reduced the production and activity of enzymes called Histone Deacetylases (HDACs), which remove the acetyl groups from the histone proteins, halting the gene transcription process. Pancreatic cancer, the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths in the world takes some 34,000 lives a year worldwide. The disease is generally detected after it has spread and only 4pc of individuals with it live for 5 years after diagnosis.
For further details contact: hamid.bakshi@gmail.com or 09826979751. He is working as a senior research scholar in BU, Bhopal.
Hamid Bakshi
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Sunday, August 01, 2010
