Evaluation of the Antioxidant Capacity, Antimicrobial and Antiproliferative Potential of Fir (Abies alba Mill.) Honeydew Honey Collected from Gorski kotar (Croatia)

Abstract

SUMMARY The paper examines the antiproliferative, antimicrobial and antioxidative effects of fir ( Abies alba Mill.) honeydew honey from mountain region of Croatia (Gorski kotar) as a potential replacement for standard antibiotics and chemotherapeutic agents. Cell viability, annexin V assay and flow cytometry analysis served to analyse the antiproliferative effect on, apoptosis induction in and cell death of cancer cell lines: HeLa, MCF-7, SW620, CFPAC-1, MIA PaCa-2 and normal diploid human fibroblasts (BJ). Antimicrobial activity was tested against Staphylococcus and Acinetobacter strains by agar well diffusion and microdilution assays. The DPPH˙ assay determined the radical scavenging activity, while mathematical models helped to evaluate the kinetic data of DPPH˙ inhibition. Antiproliferative effect on all tested cell lines and the prominent effect on normal diploid human fibroblasts (BJ), colorectal adenocarcinoma (SW620, metastatic) and breast epithelial adenocarcinoma (MCF-7, metastatic) was observable. The mechanisms of antiproliferative effect included accumulation of cells in the sub-G1 phase in all tested cells and induction of apoptosis in SW620 and MCF-7 cells predominantly. The antibacterial assays showed that antibiotic-resistant strains of both bacteria, including multi-resistant strain A. baumannii ATCC® BAA-1605™, were sensitive to all tested honey samples. Radical scavenging assay suggests that antioxidants present in the honey possess different radical suppressing abilities and that they react at different rates with radicals, thereby causing two steps of reaction. The results of the study indicate that Croatian fir honeydew honey has a therapeutic potential due to the strong biological activity and can serve to protect human health.

Physicochemical analysis and phenolic profile of polyfloral and honeydew honey from Montenegro

“…Similar variability between samples, but with higher average value (15.83%) was reported for Croatian honeydew honey. 32 Larger variability was reported for Romanian honeydew honey samples 5 with their higher average value of 23.3%. Similar obtained values of TPC and RSA for polyoral honey were reported by Ciucure et al 5 and Gašić et al 10 Besides the variations within the range of TPC and RSA that are more noticeable for polyoral samples, there is high similarity between polyoral and honeydew honey (Fig.…”

Neurensin‑2 promotes proliferation, invasion and migration of colorectal cancer cells via interaction with SOX12

“…In addition, it is well-established that excessive proliferation of medial colorectal epithelial cells is a critical risk factor for CRC pathogenesis ( 23 ). According to the ATCC, the human colon cancer SW620 cell line isolated from the tissue of a Caucasian male was highly tumorigenic in nude mice ( 24 ), and has been employed in numerous genetic, biochemical and pharmacological studies ( 25 , 26 ). Therefore, SW620 cells were used in the current study to determine the biological functions of NRSN2 in the development of CRC.…”

Essential Oils with High Activity against Stationary Phase Bartonella henselae

“…Mountain savory has been proved to be highly active against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Salmonella typhimurium and L. monocytogenes [39][40][41]. According to previous studies, fir honeydew honey had strong antimicrobial activity against S. aureus, A. baumannii, P. aeruginosa, E. coli and kinds of fungi [42][43][44]. Ylang-ylang products have a wide variety of bioactivities including antimicrobial, antibiofilm, anti-inflammatory, anti-vector, insect-repellent and so on, demonstrating it to be a useful plant to agriculture and medicine [45].…”