Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Ain Shams University, Cairo 11566, Egypt.
Department of Forensic Science, College of Science, Al-Karkh University of Science, P.O. Box 10081, Baghdad, Iraq.
J Pharm Biomed Anal. 2024 Jul 15;244:116121. doi: 10.1016/j.jpba.2024.116121. Epub 2024 Mar 19.
Natural approach became a high demand for the prevention and treatment of such diseases for their proven safety and efficacy. This study is aimed to perform comparative phytochemical analysis of white pitaya (Hylocereus undatus) peel, pulp and seed extracts via determination of total flavonoid content, phenolic content, and antioxidant capacity, coupled with HPLC-ESI/MS-MS analysis. Further, we evaluated the synergistic cytotoxic potential with Cisplatin against cervical cancer cells with investigation of underlying mechanism. The highest content of phenolics and antioxidants were found in both seed and peel extracts. The HPLC-ESI/MS-MS revealed identification of flavonoids, phenolic acids, anthocyanin glycosides, lignans, stilbenes, and coumarins. The cytotoxicity effects were evaluated by MTT assay against prostate, breast and cervical (HeLa) and Vero cell lines. The seed and peel extracts showed remarkable cytotoxic effect against all tested cell lines. Moreover, the selectivity index confirmed high selectivity of pitaya extracts to cancer cells and safety on normal cells. The combined therapy with Cisplatin effectively enhanced its efficacy and optimized the treatment outcomes, through the apoptotic ability of pitaya extracts in HeLa cells, as evaluated by flow cytometry. Besides, RT-PCR and western blotting analysis showed downregulation of Bcl-2 and overexpression of P53, BAX among HeLa cells treated with pitaya extracts, which eventually activated apoptosis process. Thus, pitaya extract could be used as adjuvant therapy with cisplatin for treatment of cervical cancer. Furthermore, in-vivo extensive studies on the seed and peel extracts, and their compounds are recommended to gain more clarification about the required dose, and side effects.
天然方法因其已被证实的安全性和有效性而成为预防和治疗此类疾病的高需求。本研究旨在通过测定总黄酮含量、酚类含量和抗氧化能力,结合 HPLC-ESI/MS-MS 分析,对白色火龙果(Hylocereus undatus)果皮、果肉和种子提取物进行比较植物化学分析。此外,我们评估了与顺铂联合使用对宫颈癌细胞的协同细胞毒性作用,并研究了其潜在机制。果皮和种子提取物中均含有最高含量的酚类物质和抗氧化剂。HPLC-ESI/MS-MS 鉴定出类黄酮、酚酸、花色苷、木脂素、芪类和香豆素。通过 MTT 测定法评估了对前列腺、乳腺和宫颈(HeLa)和 Vero 细胞系的细胞毒性作用。种子和果皮提取物对所有测试的细胞系均表现出显著的细胞毒性作用。此外,选择性指数证实火龙果提取物对癌细胞具有高选择性,对正常细胞安全。与顺铂联合治疗可有效增强其疗效并优化治疗结果,通过流式细胞术评估火龙果提取物在 HeLa 细胞中的凋亡能力。此外,RT-PCR 和 Western blot 分析显示,用火龙果提取物处理的 HeLa 细胞中 Bcl-2 下调和 P53、BAX 过表达,最终激活了凋亡过程。因此,火龙果提取物可作为顺铂治疗宫颈癌的辅助治疗方法。此外,建议对种子和果皮提取物及其化合物进行广泛的体内研究,以更清楚地了解所需剂量和副作用。