Evaluation of Synergetic Anticancer Activity of Berberine and Curcumin on Different Models of A549, Hep-G2, MCF-7, Jurkat, and K562 Cell Lines

Abstract

Ayurvedic system of medicine is using Berberis aristata and Curcuma longa herbs to treat different diseases including cancer. The study was performed to evaluate the synergetic anticancer activity of Berberine and Curcumin by estimating the inhibition of the cell proliferation by cytotoxicity assay using MTT method on specified human cell lines (A549, Hep-G2, MCF-7, Jurkat, and K562). All the cells were harvested from the culture and seeded in the 96-well assay plates at seeding density of 2.0 × 104 cells/well and were incubated for 24 hours. Test items Berberine with Curcumin (1 : 1), Curcumin 95% pure, and Berberine 95% pure were exposed at the concentrations of 1.25, 0.001, and 0.5 mg/mL, respectively, and incubated for a period of 48 hours followed by dispensing MTT solution (5 mg/mL). The cells were incubated at 37 ± 1°C for 4 hours followed by addition of DMSO for dissolving the formazan crystals and absorbance was read at 570 nm. Separate wells were prepared for positive control, controls (only medium with cells), and blank (only medium). The results had proven the synergetic anticancer activity of Berberine with Curcumin inducing cell death greater percentage of >77% when compared to pure curcumin with <54% and pure Berberine with <45% on average on all cell line models.

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“…Yellow water soluble MTT is metabolically reduced in viable cells to a blueviolet insoluble formazan crystals. The number of viable cells correlates to the colour intensity determined by photometric measurements after dissolving the formazan in DMSO 19 .…”

Recent Advances in Berberine Inspired Anticancer Approaches: From Drug Combination to Novel Formulation Technology and Derivatization

“…Wang et al [98] have shown a synergistic inhibitory effect by the two compounds in the growth inhibition of both MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. In other human cancer cell lines (A549, Hep-G2, MCF-7, Jurkat, and K562), Balakrishna et al [99] further showed a greater level of potency and selectivity to the combination of berberine with curcumin. By using the HepG2 cell death model, the interaction between berberine and another antioxidant, S-allyl-cysteine (SAC, 18, Figure 2), was investigated by Sengupta et al [100].…”

“…The most active compound was 13-n-octyl palmatine (101) with an IC 50 of 0.02 ± 0.01 µM for SMMC7721. Given the level of potency displayed by these 13-n-alkyl berberine analogues (98)(99)(100)(101), the study also included in vivo studies in mice that bear S180 sarcoma xenografted in vivo. The activity via i.p.…”

Curcumin – The Healing Herb: Properties and Future Prospective

“…This molecule is susceptible to fast degradation in simple aqueous and aqueous-organic solutions and also on exposure to sunlight. Their study also concluded that the metabolic products of curcumin are different from the degradation products and are difficult for synthesis in the laboratories [30].…”

“…They concluded that the antiangiogenic effect of curcumin is due to its inhibitory effect on signal transduction pathways and on two groups of proteinases involved in angiogenesis including the fact that the molecules performing cell adhesion are upregulated in active angiogenesis and curcumin can block this effect, adding further dimensions to curcumin's antiangiogenic effect. These studies suggest curcumin's potential as an antiangiogenic drug [30]. Miriyala et al researched the topic of cardioprotective effects of curcumin in different animal models to show the protective role of curcumin.…”