Effects of curcumin in an orthotopic murine bladder tumor model.
Cigarette smoking (CS) is the main risk factor for bladder cancer development. There are more than 100 carcinogens present in cigarette smoke. Among the potential mediators of CS-induced alterations is nuclear factor-kappa (NF-kappaB), which is responsible for the transcription of genes related to cell transformation, tumor promotion, angiogenesis, invasion and metastasis. Curcumin is a polyphenol compound derived from Curcuma longa that suppress cellular transformation, proliferation, invasion, angiogenesis, and metastasis by down regulating NF-kappaB and its regulated genes. The aim of our study was to assess the effects of curcumin in bladder urothelial carcinoma. We studied the effects of curcumin in vitro and in vivo using the orthotropic syngeneic bladder tumor animal model MB49. Curcumin promotes apoptosis of bladder tumor cells in vitro. In vivo tumors of animals treated with curcumin were significantly smaller as compared to controls. Using immunohistochemistry, we demonstrated a decrease in the expression of Cox-2 by 8% and Cyclin D1 by 13% in the animals treated with curcumin; both genes regulated by NF-kappaB and related to cell proliferation. In this study, we showed that curcumin acts in bladder urothelial cancer, possibly dowregulating NF-kappaB-related genes, and could be an option in the treatment of urothelial neoplasms. The results of our study suggest that further research is warranted to confirm our findings.
Laboratory of Medical Investigation, University of Sao Paulo Medical School, Sao Paulo, Brazil. katiaramos@uol.com.br
Katia R M
KR
Leite
Daher C
DC
Chade
Adriana
A
Sanudo
Bruno Y P
BY
Sakiyama
Gustavo
G
Batocchio
Miguel
M
Srougi
D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003474:Curcumin / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D019938:Cyclin D1 / Q000378:metabolism; D051546:Cyclooxygenase 2 / Q000378:metabolism; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004354:Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor; D005260:Female; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D001749:Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; C052617:Bcl2 protein, mouse; D019938:Cyclin D1; C077623:Ptgs2 protein, mouse; D051546:Cyclooxygenase 2; D003474:Curcumin