Paris polyphylla Sm. Induces Reactive Oxygen Species and Caspase 3-Mediated Apoptosis in Colorectal Cancer Cells In Vitro and Potentiates the Therapeutic Significance of Fluorouracil and Cisplatin

Abstract

Paris polyphylla Sm. (Melanthiaceae) is an essential, vulnerable herb with a wide range of traditional applications ranging from fever to cancer in various communities. The use of P. polyphylla in India is limited to traditional healers. Here, we demonstrated that P. polyphylla extract (PPE) has good phenol, flavonoid, saponin, and steroidal saponin content and anti-oxidant activity with IC50 35.12 ± 6.1 μg/mL in DPPH and 19.69 ± 6.7 μg/mL in ABTS. Furthermore, PPE induces cytotoxicity in HCT-116 with IC50 8.72 ± 0.71 μg/mL without significant cytotoxicity inthe normal human colon epithelial cell line, CCD 841 CoN. PPE inhibits the metastatic property and induces apoptosis in HCT-116, as measured by Annexin V/PI, by increasing the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and caspase 3 activation. PPE acts synergistically with 5FU and cisplatin in HCT-116 and potentiates their therapeutic significance. Steroidal saponins with anticancer activities were detected in PPE by HR-LCMS. The present study demonstrated that PPE induces apoptosis by increasing ROS and activating caspase 3, which was attributed to steroidal saponins. PPE can be used as a potential natural remedy for colon cancer.

Research progress of Paris polyphylla in the treatment of digestive tract cancers

“…Moreover, PPVII regulated the RAS signaling pathway to induce apoptosis in colon cancer HT-29 and SW-620 cells and inhibit their malignant progression of colon cancer cells [ 17 ]. In addition, another PP extract can exerted antitumor effects by increasing ROS and activating caspase-3, thereby, inhibiting HCT-116 cell metastasis and inducing apoptosis [ 53 ].…”

“…In colorectal cancer DLD-1 cells, the PP ethanol extract could enhanced the cytotoxic, therapeutic and antitomor effects of Adriamycin on tumor cells [ 62 ]. The PP extract can be combined with 5-FU/cisplatin to enhance its colorectal cancer therapeutic significance [ 53 ].…”