Oral administration of lyophilizedDunaliella salina, a carotenoid-rich marine alga, reduces tumor progression in mammary cancer induced rats

Abstract

Dunaliella salina is a photosynthetic cell factory used for the commercial production of food additives, cattle stock feed and cosmetics as well as active ingredients for pharmaceutical industries. The investigation of the in vivo antitumor activity of D. salina lyophilized powder (DSLP) against 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA) induced mammary carcinogenesis in female Wistar rats indicated a dose-dependent effect of DSLP. We studied the effect of DSLP at two different dosages of 500 and 1000 mg per kg bw on DMBA induced mammary cancer in rats by measuring the status of antioxidant enzymes, phase I and phase II detoxification enzymes, lipid peroxidation, and glycoconjugated proteins and by investigating the expression pattern of cell proliferation (Ki-67), hormonal receptor (ER, PR and HER2) status by immunohistochemical analysis, and apoptotic (caspase-3 and -9) and pro-inflammatory (COX-2) markers by colorimetric analysis. After 16 weeks of the study, we observed 100% tumor formation (including high tumor incidence and tumor volume) and a significant increase in the level of hormonal receptors, cell proliferation, and pro-inflammatory and apoptosis markers in tumor-bearing animals compared to the control. The oral administration of DSLP (1000 mg per kg bw) to the DMBA treated animals showed up to 83.4% reduction of tumors and effectively restored the levels of biochemical markers in the mammary tissues in addition to the downregulation of the expression of molecular markers. In conclusion, DSLP was found to show a chemopreventive effect against breast cancer induced in rats through the suppression of cell proliferation and the induction of apoptosis.

The dietary c 9, t 11‐conjugated linoleic acid enriched from butter reduces breast cancer progression in vivo

“…The results indicate that the dietary c 9, t 11‐CLA can significantly downregulate the hormonal receptor and has antiproliferative effect against mammary cancer in vivo. Similar result was also reported that the oral administration of Dunaliella salina powder can effectively reduce the PR and Ki‐67 levels in breast cancer‐induced animals (Srinivasan et al, ). Studies have demonstrated that many biomarkers, such as Ki‐67, caspases‐3, caspases‐9, Bax, and Bcl‐2, are associated with tumor cell proliferation and apoptosis.…”

“…It was reported that the overexpression of PR was found in chemical carcinogen-induced mammary cancer SD rats (Simmen et al, 2005). In contrast, the ex- animals (Srinivasan et al, 2017). Studies have demonstrated that many biomarkers, such as Ki-67, caspases-3, caspases-9, Bax, and Bcl-2, are associated with tumor cell proliferation and apoptosis.…”

Deciphering the Biological Activities of Dunaliella sp. Aqueous Extract from Stressed Conditions on Breast Cancer: from in Vitro to in Vivo Investigations

“…strain from the Tunisian coast identified to have 97% of similarity with Dunaliella salina [40]. Dunaliella salina is known for its high production of antioxidants, mainly β-carotene, which leads to its anticancer activity [4,5,[12][13][14][15][16][17]. D. salina is also able to produce hydrophilic compounds such as flavonoids, tannins and alkaloids [41].…”

“…The present study reports for the first time that Dunaliella aqueous holds an efficient antitumor activity against breast cancer cells growth both in vitro and in vivo by intratumoral injection. Previous reports related on the use of D. salina were performed with ethanolic extract or the whole powder with an oral administration requiring at least more than two weeks of treatments with high doses from 300 mg/kg up to 1000 mg/kg [2,4,5].…”

“…Dunaliella is a source of the food supplement E160 (β-carotene). There are some studies reporting the effect of Dunaliella in whole powder form against fibrosarcoma [2], colitis [3], DMBA-induced breast cancer [4], thanks to its immunological and anti-leukemic properties [5]. Further studies have focused on identifying the active compounds in Dunaliella extracts.…”