Chemopreventive and therapeutic efficacy of thymoquinone on experimentally induced hamster buccal pouch carcinogenesis

Abstract

Aim: The present study aimed to investigate the chemopreventive and therapeutic effect of thymoquinone (TQ) on experimentally induced hamster buccal pouch carcinogenesis. Methodology : 40 Syrian male hamsters were classified into 4 equal groups (G(s)) of 10 each. GI: The animals remained untreated. The pouches of animals in GII, GIII, and GIV were painted 3 times a week for 14 weeks (ws). with 7,12-dimethylbenz (a) anthracene (DMBA). GII: No additional treatment was administered. Those in GIII: oral administration of TQ at a dose of 30 mg kg-1, one week before, as well as, during the application of DMBA on alternate days for 14 ws, whereas in GIV: The animals were injected intraperitoneally (IP) with TQ 50 mg/kg body weight thrice a week for 3ws. After the end of the experiment, the gross observations were made. Then, the fresh pouch specimens were surgically bisected into two pieces, one for Hematoxylin and Eosin (H&E) stain and immunohistochemistry (IHC) stain using Bcl-2. The other piece was used for apoptosis detection through a flow cytometry (FCM) test. Results: Gross observation showed variation in reduction of the tumor size in chemoprevention and treated group compared to the DMBA treated group.