BACKGROUND Neferine (NEF) is nontoxic, bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloid is derived from the seed embryo of lotus, a familiar medicinal plant. Although several mechanisms have been planned, an evident antitumor action pathway of NEF on the oral tumor is still not known. In the current study, we aimed at investigating the protecting effect of NEF against experimental oral carcinoma and clarify its possible mechanism through the induction of apoptosis, proliferation, and inflammatory signaling pathways. METHODS The experimental hamsters were divided into four groups (I-IV) containing six hamsters each. The group I was control group, group II and III hamsters treated with 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA) (0.5%) alone, thrice in a week for 10 weeks, and group III and IV hamsters received oral supplementation of NEF at a concentration of 15 mg/kg bw. All the hamsters were sacrificed after 16 weeks. RESULTS Our results revealed that DMBA treated hamsters exhibited 100% oral tumor cell formation with high-tumor incidence (TI), tumor number (TN), tumor volume (TV), decreased levels of antioxidants, increased status of lipid peroxidation (LPO), and modulated the activities of liver marker agents as well as NF-kB, cell proliferation (PCNA), and p53 proteins. NEF supplementation in DMBA treated hamsters, resulted in delayed lesion synthesis, and brought back the levels of the biochemical parameters. In addition, immunostaining of NF-kB, PCNA, and p53 showed that they were inhibited by NEF. CONCLUSION Thus, NEF might be considered a better chemopreventive drug in an experimental model of home-based primary care (HBPC). More research is necessary to study other pathways implicated in oral carcinomas and their modulation by NEF.

中文翻译：

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neferine 对 DMBA 诱导的鳞状细胞癌变的化学调节作用：生化和分子方法

背景Neferine (NEF) 是一种无毒的双苄基异喹啉生物碱，来源于人们熟悉的药用植物莲花的种子胚。尽管已经计划了几种机制，但仍不清楚 NEF 对口腔肿瘤的明显抗肿瘤作用途径。在目前的研究中，我们旨在研究 NEF 对实验性口腔癌的保护作用，并通过诱导细胞凋亡、增殖和炎症信号通路阐明其可能的机制。方法将实验仓鼠分为四组（I-IV），每组包含六只仓鼠。I组为对照组，II组和III组仓鼠单独用7,12-二甲基苯（a）蒽（DMBA）（0.5%）处理，一周三次，共10周，III组和IV组仓鼠口服补充NEF 浓度为 15 毫克/千克体重。16周后处死所有仓鼠。结果 我们的结果表明，DMBA 处理的仓鼠表现出 100% 口腔肿瘤细胞形成，具有高肿瘤发生率 (TI)、肿瘤数量 (TN)、肿瘤体积 (TV)、抗氧化剂水平降低、脂质过氧化状态 (LPO) 增加、并调节肝脏标志物以及 NF-kB、细胞增殖 (PCNA) 和 p53 蛋白的活性。在 DMBA 处理的仓鼠中补充 NEF，导致病变合成延迟，并恢复了生化参数的水平。此外，NF-kB、PCNA 和 p53 的免疫染色显示它们被 NEF 抑制。结论 因此，在家庭初级保健 (HBPC) 的实验模型中，NEF 可能被认为是一种更好的化学预防药物。