Astaxanthin suppresses hepatocellular carcinoma via targeting Wnt/Β-catenin pathway: Experimental study on chemically induced HCC in rats

Résumé

Astaxanthin (ATX) is a potent natural antioxidant that shows promise against hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We investigated the therapeutic potential of ATX and its impact on Wnt/β-catenin pathway in a rat model, inducing HCC by nitrosodiethylamine (DEN) and carbon tetrachloride (CCl4). Rats were divided into five groups; I: control, II: HCC, III: HCC rats received ATX (5 days/week), IV: HCC rats received doxorubicin (DOX) weekly, V: HCC rats received combination therapy, for 4 weeks. Our results indicate that combination therapy significantly improved serum biomarkers, reducing alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) levels by 45%, 35%, 49%, respectively compared to untreated HCC rats. Histopathological examination revealed the absence of hepato-carcinogenic nodules in the DOX- and combination-treated groups. Furthermore, combination therapy downregulated Wnt/β-catenin pathway components, decreasing frizzled-7 (FZD-7) by 56%, low-density lipoprotein receptor-related proteins 5/6 (LRP5/6) by 62%, β-catenin by 58%, and upregulating glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK3β) by 41% compared to untreated HCC rats. Consequently, the expression of key proteins such as cyclin D1 was ameliorated by 46%. While DOX monotherapy upregulated multidrug resistance protein-1 (MDR1) by 65%, combination therapy mitigated this increase by 36%. These findings highlight that ATX has potential therapeutic benefits in HCC treatment in rats.

Citer ce document

Accès au document

Texte intégral en lecture en ligne, réservé aux abonnés SPHAERO et aux membres de l'institution. Se connecter

Auteur(s)

Statistiques

Consultations : 1

Téléchargements : 0