Propolis Stops Colorectal Cancer In Vitro

Once again, Propolis is proven to have effective anti-tumor activity. This time it's confirmed to be effective against Colon carcinoma cells. Already proven complementary against breast and prostate cancer cells, the apoptosis or cytotoxic capacity of Propolis merits to be prescribed to every cancer patient...  

Portuguese propolis disturbs glycolytic metabolism of human colorectal cancer in vitro

BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine; 2013, July 19 

Background

Propolis is a resin collected by bees from plant buds and exudates, which is further processed through the activity of bee enzymes. Propolis has been shown to possess many biological and pharmacological properties, such as antimicrobial, antioxidant, immunostimulant and antitumor activities. Due to this bioactivity profile, this resin can become an alternative, economic and safe source of natural bioactive compounds.

Antitumor action has been reported in vitro and in vivo for propolis extracts or its isolated compounds; however, Portuguese propolis has been little explored. The aim of this work was to evaluate the in vitro antitumor activity of Portuguese propolis on the human colon carcinoma cell line HCT-15, assessing the effect of different fractions (hexane, chloroform and ethanol residual) of a propolis ethanol extract on cell viability, proliferation, metabolism and death.

Methods

Propolis from Angra do Heroismo (Azores) was extracted with ethanol and sequentially fractionated in solvents with increasing polarity, n-hexane and chloroform. To assess cell viability, cell proliferation and cell death, Sulforhodamine B, BrDU incorporation assay and Anexin V/Propidium iodide were used, respectively. Glycolytic metabolism was estimated using specific kits.

Results

All propolis samples exhibited a cytotoxic effect against tumor cells, in a dose- and time-dependent way. Chloroform fraction, the most enriched in phenolic compounds, appears to be the most active, both in terms of inhibition of viability and cell death. Data also show that this cytotoxicity involves disturbance in tumor cell glycolytic metabolism, seen by a decrease in glucose consumption and lactate production.

Conclusion

Our results show that Portuguese propolis from Angra do Heroismo (Azores) can be a potential therapeutic agent against human colorectal cancer.