Cinnamon effectively inhibits the activity of leukemia stem cells

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Cinnamon is the main component of Sanyangxuedai, which is one of the effective traditional Chinese medicines for treating malignancies. Leukemia is a prevalent malignant disease that Sanyangxuedai has been used to treat. Although successful in several studies, there is a lack of solid evidence as to why Sanyangxuedai has an effect on leukemia, and little is known about the underlying mechanisms. In this study, the active ingredients of cinnamon were isolated, purified, and identified. The transwell transport pool formed with the Caco-2 cell model was used to filter the active ingredients of cinnamon by simulating the gastrointestinal barrier in vitro. Moreover, the cell morphology, cell cycle status, apoptosis status, and antigenic variation of the cell surface antigens were observed and measured in K562 cells after treatment with the active ingredients of cinnamon. Our results showed that 50-75 µM was a safe concentration of cinnamon extract for treatment of K562 cells for 72 h. The cinnamon extract caused growth inhibition of K562 cells. Cinnamon extract seemed to arrest the cells at the G1 stage and increased the apoptosis rate significantly. Interestingly, cinnamon extract treatment upregulated the expression of erythroid and myeloid differentiation antigens and downregulated that of the megakaryocytic differentiation antigens in a dose-dependent manner. Our findings indicate that cinnamon extract from Sanyangxuedai may be effective for treating leukemia.

The Anti-Cancer Effect of Cinnamon Aqueous Extract: A Focus on Hematological Malignancies

“…Leukemia is a hematological malignant disease due to abnormal proliferation and differentiation problems of blood cells [ 77 ]. Acute myeloid leukemia (AML), in particular, is characterized by damage in precursor cells of the myeloid lineage.…”

Curry versus cancer: Potential of some selected culinary spices against cancer with in vitro, in vivo, and human trials evidences

“…Essential oil of Cinnamon bark exhibits antiproliferative effects on skin cancer cells, which were studied on a Biologically Multiplexed Activity Profiling System (HDF3CGF) that was designed with cell culture of human dermal fibroblasts with chronic inflammation and fibrosis (Han et al, 2007). Cinnamon extract inhibited the growth of K562 cells by terminating the cell cycle at G1 stage and induced apoptosis effectively (Guan et al, 2016).…”

“…Cinnamon extract inhibited the growth of K562 cells by terminating the cell cycle at G1 stage and induced apoptosis effectively (Guan et al., 2016). Cinnamon enriched with procyanidin‐B2 decreased the cell multiplication in human prostate cancer cells by inhibiting the activity of 26S proteasome (Gopalakrishnan et al., 2018).…”