Mükerrem Betül Yerer

Resveratrol and diabetes: A critical review of clinical studies

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a metabolic disease characterized by hyperglycemia. The disease results from the defects of insulin secretion and/or action. Resveratrol is a non-flavonoid polyphenol that naturally occurs as phytoalexin. The shell and stem of Vitis vinifera L. (Vitaceae) are the richest source of this compound. In addition to various in vitro and in vivo studies revealing the effectiveness of resveratrol in DM, there are many clinical trials indicating that resveratrol has the potential to benefit in DM patients. The therapeutic action of this compound in relation to diabetes is complex and involves in several beneficial roles. In view of this, clinical studies are necessary to elucidate these roles. In the near future, the use of resveratrol, alone or in combination with current anti-diabetic therapies, might be a conventional approach to effectively manage DM or its complications. This mini-review provides a critical overview of currently available clinical studies examining the effects of resveratrol in DM last decade.

Potential Anticancer Properties of Osthol: A Comprehensive Mechanistic Review

Cancer is caused by uncontrolled cell proliferation which has the potential to occur in different tissues and spread into surrounding and distant tissues. Despite the current advances in the field of anticancer agents, rapidly developing resistance against different chemotherapeutic drugs and significantly higher off-target effects cause millions of deaths every year. Osthol is a natural coumarin isolated from Apiaceaous plants which has demonstrated several pharmacological effects, such as antineoplastic, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. We have attempted to summarize up-to-date information related to pharmacological effects and molecular mechanisms of osthol as a lead compound in managing malignancies. Electronic databases, including PubMed, Cochrane library, ScienceDirect and Scopus were searched for in vitro, in vivo and clinical studies on anticancer effects of osthol. Osthol exerts remarkable anticancer properties by suppressing cancer cell growth and induction of apoptosis. Osthol’s protective and therapeutic effects have been observed in different cancers, including ovarian, cervical, colon and prostate cancers as well as chronic myeloid leukemia, lung adenocarcinoma, glioma, hepatocellular, glioblastoma, renal and invasive mammary carcinoma. A large body of evidence demonstrates that osthol regulates apoptosis, proliferation and invasion in different types of malignant cells which are mediated by multiple signal transduction cascades. In this review, we set spotlights on various pathways which are targeted by osthol in different cancers to inhibit cancer development and progression.

α-Chaconine and α-Solanine Inhibit RL95-2 Endometrium Cancer Cell Proliferation by Reducing Expression of Akt (Ser473) and ERα (Ser167)

The aim of this study is to investigate the potential inhibitory effect of α-chaconine and α-solanine on RL95-2 estrogen receptor (ER) positive human endometrial cancer cell line and to identify the effect of these glycoalkaloids on the Akt signaling and ERα. The cell proliferation profiles and the cytotoxicity studies were performed by Real-Time Cell Analyzer (xCELLigence) and compared with Sulphorhodamine B (SRB) assay. The effects of α-chaconine (2.5, 5, 10 µM), α-solanine (20, 30, 50 µM), API-1 (25 µM) and MPP (20 µM) effects on Akt (Ser473) and ERα (Ser167) expressions evaluated by Western blot and qPCR method. Their IC50 values were as α-chaconine (4.72 µM) < MPP (20.01 µM) < α-solanine (26.27 µM) < API-1 (56.67 µM). 10 μM α-chaconine and 20, 30 and 50 μM α-solanine were effective in decreasing p-Akt(Ser473)/Akt ratio compared to positive control API-1. When the p-ERα/ERα ratios were evaluated, it was observed that α-chaconine (2.5, 5, 10 μM) and α-solanine (50 μM) were as effective as the specific ERα inhibitor MPP in reducing the ratio of p-ERα/ERα compared to the control group. In conclusion, it has been shown that the proliferation of α-chaconine and α-solanine in human endometrial carcinoma cells reduces the expression and activity of the Akt and ERα signaling pathway.

Real-time analysis of impedance alterations by the effects of vanadium pentoxide on several carcinoma cell lines

Objectives: Vanadium compounds have various pharmacologic effects and all available evidence reveals that the effects of vanadium compounds depend on many factors, mainly on the type of cells and dose. The proapoptotic or antiapoptotic effect of vanadium compounds depends strongly on the cell type. Materials and Methods: In this study, the effects of vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) were investigated using several tumor cell lines: a colorectal cancer cell line (Colo-205), a human breast adenocarcinoma cell line (MCF-7), and a normal human fibroblast cell line. Five different concentrations of V2O5 between 25-200 µM were applied on the cells and xCELLigence real-time cell analysis was conducted to evaluate the impedance alterations. This study is the first to show V2O5’s effects on Colo-205 and MCF-7 and human fibroblast cell lines in a real-time manner. Results: In the Colo-205 cell line, cell index (CI) alterations decreased slightly at 25 µM and 50 µM, and increased at 100 µM, 150 µM and 200 µM concentrations. In the MCF-7 cell line, CI alterations increased at all concentrations compared with the untreated control. However, in the healthy fibroblast cell line, the CI alterations decreased at all concentrations compared with the untreated control, which limits the use of V2O5 for its cytotoxic effect in vivo. Conclusion: The combination of conventional anticancer drugs can be used to increase the effectiveness and reduce the adverse effects of these drugs considering stages of cancer and cancer type. Our results suggest that V2O5 has disparate effects on several cancer cells at different concentrations.

Report on Second International Conference on Natural Products for Cancer Prevention and Therapy Held in Kayseri, Turkey, 8–11 November 2017

Scientific experts from eight countries gathered[...].