Metabolite Profiling of Alocasia gigantea Leaf Extract and Its Potential Anticancer Effect through Autophagy in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Bibliographic Information
Authors: Okasha H.; Aboushousha T.; Coimbra M.A.; Cardoso S.M.; Ghareeb M.A.
Journal: Molecules
Publisher: MDPI
Publication Date: 3 December 2022
Volume / Issue: Volume 27 / Issue 23
Article No.: 8504
ISSN: 14203049
DOI: 10.3390/molecules27238504
Scopus: View on Scopus
PubMed: 36500595
Document Type: Article
Access: All Open Access; Gold Open Access; Green Open Access
Authors and Affiliations
Okasha H., Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Theodor Bilharz Research Institute, Kornaish El Nile, Warrak El-Hadar, P.O. Box 30, Imbaba, Giza, 12411, Egypt; Aboushousha T., Department of Pathology, Theodor Bilharz Research Institute, Kornaish El Nile, Warrak El-Hadar, P.O. Box 30, Imbaba, Giza, 12411, Egypt; Coimbra M.A., LAQV-REQUIMTE, Department of Chemistry, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, 3810-193, Portugal; Cardoso S.M., LAQV-REQUIMTE, Department of Chemistry, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, 3810-193, Portugal; Ghareeb M.A., Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Theodor Bilharz Research Institute, Kornaish El Nile, Warrak El-Hadar, P.O. Box 30, Imbaba, Giza, 12411, Egypt
Abstract
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a poor-prognosis type of cancer with high resistance to chemotherapy, making the search for safe drugs a mandatory issue. Plant-derived products have potential to reduce negative side effects of cancer treatments. In this work, ability of a defatted methanolic extract of Alocasia gigantea leaves to fight HCC was evaluated in an animal model. Overall, treatment of HCC-induced mice with the methanolic extract at 150 mg/kg body weight for four consecutive weeks caused induction of autophagy through silencing of the relative expression of autophagy suppressor (mTOR) and inducement of autophagy markers (AMPK, Beclin-1, and LC-3). Moreover, it improved preservation of the hepatic histological architecture of the animals, with minor hepatocytic changes but scattered foci of hepatocytic apoptosis. Chemical profiling of the methanolic extract via ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to a diode array detector and an electrospray mass spectrometer (UHPLC–DAD–ESI–MS/MS) allowed identification of di-C-glycosyl flavones, mostly represented by 6-C-hexosyl-8-C-pentosyl apigenin isomers, which may possibly be associated with inducement of the autophagy pathway in HCC. Overall, these outcomes gave an initial visualization of the operative effect of some compounds in A. gigantea leaves that are potential treatment for HCC. © 2022 by the authors.
Keywords
Alocasia gigantea; autophagy; hepatocellular carcinoma; histopathology; phenolic compounds; UHPLC–DAD–ESI–MS/MS; Alocasia; Animals; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Liver Neoplasms; Methanol; Mice; Plant Extracts; Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization; Tandem Mass Spectrometry; plant extract; animal; chemistry; electrospray mass spectrometry; high performance liquid chromatography; liver cell carcinoma; liver tumor; mouse; procedures
Citation Information
Scopus Citations: 9
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