Extract of Juniperus indica Bertol Synergizes with Cisplatin to Inhibit Oral Cancer Cell Growth via Repression of Cell Cycle Progression and Activation of the Caspase Cascade

Abstract

Oral cancer—a type of head and neck cancer—is estimated to be the fifth most common cancer in Taiwan. However, efficacious therapies for oral cancer are still lacking due to drug resistance and recurrence. Consequently, the identification of new anticancer agents for clinical treatment is needed. Juniperus indica Bertol is a plant of the Juniperus genus often used as a treatment in traditional medicine due to its anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and diuretic functions. The biofunctions of Juniperus indica Bertol including its anticancer potential, have not been fully explored. As a result, the aim of this research was to investigate the anticancer activity of Juniperus indica Bertol extract (JIB extract) and determine whether JIB extract has synergistic effects with cisplatin in oral cancer. These results are the first to demonstrate that JIB extract exhibits anticancer capacity and synergizes with cisplatin to treat oral cancer. Our findings indicate that JIB extract has a potential to develop anticancer agent and chemo therapeutic adjuvant for oral cancer.

Uncovering the Effect of Passage Number on HT29 Cell Line Based on the Cell Metabolomic Approach

“…Cisplatin is commonly used for the treatment of diverse cancers, such as lung cancer, cervical cancer, osteosarcoma, and neuroblastoma . Although cisplatin shows good therapeutic effect, severe adverse side effects still exist, such as nausea, vomiting, peripheral neuropathy, and nephrotoxicity . Moreover, drug resistance may develop during the treatment, necessitating higher doses to achieve good effects.…”

“…These side effects require lowering the dose of cisplatin . Thus, the combination use of cisplatin with complementary and alternative herbal medicines is increasing worldwide . For example, in combination with l -canavanine, the IC 50 of cisplatin against Caco-2 cells could be decreased .…”

“…34 Although cisplatin shows good therapeutic effect, severe adverse side effects still exist, such as nausea, vomiting, peripheral neuropathy, and nephrotoxicity. 35 Moreover, drug resistance may develop during the treatment, necessitating higher doses to achieve good effects. However, the severe side effects may be further exaggerated by the higher dose of cisplatin.…”

“…37 Thus, the combination use of cisplatin with complementary and alternative herbal medicines is increasing worldwide. 35 For example, in combination with L-canavanine, the IC 50 of cisplatin against Caco-2 cells could be decreased. 27 In addition, the combination use of cisplatin with shikonin exhibited stronger antiproliferative activities against HCT116, HT29, and SW620 cells than the single cisplatin.…”

Biological Activities of Natural Products

“…Huang et al [5] draw attention to the prospects of combination therapy as a new trend in the treatment of oral cancer (a type of head and neck cancer). The authors demonstrated for the first time that crude extract of liquid oil from Juniperus indica (a plant species famous in the traditional medicine of Taiwan) exhibited anticancer capacity.…”