Moringa Oleifera Seed Extract Concomitantly Supplemented with Chemotherapy Worsens Tumor Progression in Mice with Triple Negative Breast Cancer and Obesity

Abstract

Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive and highly metastatic breast cancer subtype with limited treatment options. Obesity and insulin resistance are associated with a worse prognosis in those with TNBC. Moringa oleifera (moringa) is a tropical edible plant used for both food and medicinal purposes and found to have anti-obesity and anti-cancer effects in vitro and in preclinical models. The anti-cancer effects of moringa seed extract alone and in combination with chemotherapy were evaluated in immunocompromised female mice with diet-induced obesity bearing MDA-MB-231-derived xenograft tumors. Moringa supplementation protected against high-fat diet- and chemotherapy-induced increases in fasting glucose and improved insulin sensitivity. Moringa supplementation alone did not attenuate tumor growth relative to chemotherapy alone, and in combination worsened tumor progression. Moringa supplementation alone reduced angiogenesis, but this effect was abrogated in combination with chemotherapy. Moringa supplementation may be an effective strategy to improve metabolic health in mice with obesity and TNBC and reduce angiogenesis in tumors, but may have a negative interaction when used as a concurrent complementary therapy. Caution should be taken when considering the consumption of moringa seed extracts while receiving chemotherapy for breast cancer treatment. Further investigations of alternative timings of moringa therapy are warranted.

Comparative Analysis of Antioxidants Activity of Indigenously Produced Moringa Oleifera Seeds Extracts

“…The seeds of the plant exhibit various biological activities like, antidiabetic [ 31 ], anti-inflammatory [ 32 ], hepatoprotective [ 33 ], anticancer [ 34 ], cardiovascular, CNS, analgesic [ 35 ], wound healing [ 36 ], antiallergic, antifertility, antiasthmatic [ 37 ], antiulcer, and antipyretic activity [ 38 ]. Therefore, this study was designed to evaluate the antioxidant potential of M. oleifera seeds of two different accessions from different regions.…”

Moringa oleifera: Recent Insights for Its Biochemical and Medicinal Applications

“…It has been approved that MO supplementation leads to an improvement in the metabolic status of obese mice [89,174]. Moreover, it controlled hypertriglyceridemia and hypercholesterolemia in rodent models [175].…”

The therapeutic potential of natural metabolites in targeting endocrine-independent HER-2-negative breast cancer

“… An overview of mechanistic effects of natural metabolites in endocrine-independent HER-2 negative breast cancer (created with BioRender). (A) Diagrammatic representation of the mechanistic findings: cell death induction ( Cheng et al, 2019 ; Guo and Pei, 2019 ; Nguyen et al, 2019 ; Zhang et al, 2019 ; Ding et al, 2020 ; Ho et al, 2020 ; Liu et al, 2020 ; Sánchez-Valdeolívar et al, 2020 ; Harikrishnan et al, 2021 ; Maungchanburi et al, 2021 ; Noh et al, 2021 ; Fouzat et al, 2022 ; Lin et al, 2022 ; Luo et al, 2022 ; Sancha et al, 2022 ; Sangpairoj et al, 2023 ), antiproliferative activity ( Alsaraf et al, 2019 ; Zwartsen et al, 2019 ; Collard et al, 2020 ; Jaglanian and Tsiani, 2020 ; Kalebar et al, 2020 ; Lee et al, 2020 ; Mazzei et al, 2020 ; Yang et al, 2021 ; Lin et al, 2022 ; Youssef et al, 2022 ; Kombiyil and Sivasithamparam, 2023 ) antimetastatic activity ( Hsu et al, 2020 ; Lee et al, 2020 ; Chen et al, 2022 ; Luo et al, 2022 ); antiangiogenic activity ( Utage et al, 2018 ; Hsu et al, 2020 ; Zunica et al, 2021 ), disrupted cancer cell metabolism ( Raman et al, 2018 ; Guerra et al, 2021 ; Yang et al, 2021 ; Chen et al, 2022 ; Ke et al, 2022 ), immunomodulation ( Kim et al, 2018 ; Zhao et al, 2020 ; 2021 ; Deng et al, 2021 ; Chen et al, 2022 ; Fouzat et al, 2022 ; Lv et al, 2022 ). (B) Each mechanism of anticancer activity is described in details and recently studied organisms as a source of secondary metabolites are presented (full species names including authorities and family are presented...…”

“…When exploring mechanisms related to tumor microenvironment role in endocrine-independent HER-2 negative breast cancer antiangiogenic activity ( Hsu et al, 2020 ; Zunica et al, 2021 ), metabolism shift ( Lin et al, 2019 ; Zhao et al, 2020 ; 2021 ; Deng et al, 2021 ; Chen et al, 2022 ; Fouzat et al, 2022 ; Lv et al, 2022 ) and immunomodulation ( Guerra et al, 2021 ; Yang et al, 2021 ; Chen et al, 2022 ; Ke et al, 2022 ) ( Figure 2 ) are presented.…”