Protective effect of berberine on expression pattern of apoptotic,cell proliferative, inflammatory and angiogenic markers during 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene induced hamster buccal pouch c ar cino genesis

Abstract

Investigation of expression pattern of molecular markers in oral epithelial tissues would help to assess the cell differentiation and proliferation as well as early diagnosis of precancerous and cancerous lesions of the oral cavity. Aim of the present study was to investigate the protective effect of berberine on expression pattern of apoptotic, cell proliferative, inilammatoiy and angiogenic markers during 7 J 2-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA) induced hamster buccal pouch carcinogenesis. Immunohistochemical staining [p53, Bcl-2, Bax, Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen (PCNA) and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF)],Enzyme Linked Immuno Sorbent Assay (ELISA) [c-fos COX-2, caspase-3 and -9] and Real-Time PCR [CyclinDl andNFKB] were utilized to assess the expression pattern of molecular markers in DMBA induced hamster buccal pouch carcinogenesis. Over expression of mutant p53 PCNA, Bcl-2 and VEGF were noticed in hamsters treated with DMBA alone. Decreased expression of Bax protein was noticed in hamsters treated with DMBA alone. Increased expression of C-fos COX-2, NFκB and Cyclin D1 and decreased activities of caspase-3 and -9 were also noticed in hamsters treated with DMBA alone. Oral administration of berberine at a dose of 75 mg kg -1 b.w. brought back the expression of above mentioned molecular markers to near normal pattern in hamsters treated with DMBA. The present results thus suggest that berberine has potent anti-inflammatoiy, anti-angiogenic, anti-cell proliferative and apoptosis inducing properties in DMBA induced oral carcinogenesis. © 2011 Asian Network for Scientific Information.