Plants for Health and Nutrition, LEAF (Linking Landscape, Environment, Agriculture and Food), Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017, Lisbon, Portugal.
BMC Complement Med Ther. 2020 Dec 12;20(1):379. doi: 10.1186/s12906-020-03134-9.
Aloe's reported bioactivities (anticancer, anti-inflammatory and wound healing) suggest they might inhibit a subgroup of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) called gelatinases (MMP-2 and MMP-9). The goal of the present study was to compare the MMP inhibitory potential of two Aloe species, A. vera and A. arborescens.
Different types of extraction were tested and specific bioactive compounds were quantified. Cancer cell invasion inhibitory activities were measured in vitro using the wound healing assay in human colon cancer cells (HT29). Effects on gelatinase activities were further assessed by dye-quenched gelatin and gelatin zymography.
Different types of extraction yielded significantly different levels of bioactivities and of bioactive compounds, which might be due to a greater amount of extractable bioactive compounds such as anthraquinones. Both A. arborescens and A. vera have potential as inhibitory agents in cancer cell proliferation via MMP-9 and MMP-2 enzymatic activity inhibition, being able to reduce colon cancer cell proliferation and migration but A. arborescens showed to be a more effective inhibitor of cancer cell migration than A. vera.
This work opens novel perspectives on the mode of action of Aloe species in cancer cell migration and may provide clues as to why there are so many conflicting results on Aloe's activities.
芦荟的报道的生物活性（抗癌、抗炎和伤口愈合）表明，它们可能抑制基质金属蛋白酶（MMPs）亚组中的明胶酶（MMP-2 和 MMP-9）。本研究的目的是比较两种芦荟物种，即库拉索芦荟和木立芦荟的 MMP 抑制潜力。
测试了不同类型的提取方法，并对特定的生物活性化合物进行了定量分析。在体外用人结肠癌细胞（HT29）的划痕愈合试验测量了癌细胞侵袭抑制活性。通过染料淬灭明胶和明胶酶谱进一步评估了对明胶酶活性的影响。
不同类型的提取产生了明显不同水平的生物活性和生物活性化合物，这可能是由于可提取的生物活性化合物（如蒽醌）的含量更多。木立芦荟和库拉索芦荟都有可能通过 MMP-9 和 MMP-2 酶活性抑制来抑制癌细胞增殖，能够减少结肠癌细胞的增殖和迁移，但木立芦荟对癌细胞迁移的抑制作用比库拉索芦荟更有效。
这项工作为芦荟属在癌细胞迁移中的作用方式开辟了新的视角，并可能为为什么关于芦荟活性有如此多相互矛盾的结果提供线索。
