Efeito apoptótico do extrato bruto de tabaco de carcinoma oral humano

AUTOR(ES)
DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

2009

RESUMO

Cancer is a public health problem worldwide. Incidences of head and neck cancer are increasing in the last decades, and the developed countries are the most affected. Current therapeutic options for this type of cancer are aggressive, including surgery and radiotherapy. In addition, they have not yet translated into an improvement of life quality or expectancy to patients. In this scenario, new therapeuticals are urgently needed and actively sought after. The goal of this study was to investigate the cytotoxic effects of tobacco crude extract (TCE) and 5 fractions thereof (methanolic, neutral, carbonic, acid and basic) on a human oral squamous cell carcinoma. Exposure of oral cancer cells to TCE induced cell death and decreased cell viability in a dose-dependent manner. Out of the tested fractions, only the neutral one was able to induce significant cell death (over 50%) over the period of 48h. In addition, DNA laddering and caspase-3 activation indicate that the cell death processes induced by TCE and neutral fraction were apoptotic in nature. Our results indicate that although tobacco is a known carcinogen, possessing many tumorinitiating compounds, it could also contain compounds that are useful to induce apoptosis in cancer cells. Because the neutral fraction was also able to induce apoptosis, it is postulated that this putative compound is non-polar, although further investigation is needed to uncover its true nature and chemical structure.

ASSUNTO(S)

caspase-3 extrato bruto de tabaco câncer de boca ciencias da saude apoptose

ACESSO AO ARTIGO

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