Medicinal Plant Compound Shrinks Prostate Tumors In Mice
A compound derived from the medicinal neem plant
(Azadirachta indica) has been shown
to shrink prostate tumors in mice, according to a study published in
Antioxidants & Redox Signaling.
The neem plant belongs to the mahogany tree
family that is originally native to India and the Indian sub-continent. It has
been part of traditional Asian medicine for centuries and is typically used in
Indian Ayurvedic medicine. Today, neem leaves and bark have been incorporated
into many personal care products such as soaps, toothpaste, skincare and
dietary supplements.
An international team led by Associate
Professor Gautam Sethi from the National University of Singapore showed that
nimbolide, a bioactive terpenoid compound derived from the neem plant, could
shrink prostate tumors in mice. Upon 12 weeks of administering nimbolide to the
mice, their prostate tumors shrank by as much as 70 percent and metastasis
decreased by about 50 percent, with no significant adverse effects observed.
“Although
the diverse anti-cancer effects of nimbolide have been reported in different
cancer types, its potential effects on prostate cancer initiation and
progression have not been demonstrated in scientific studies,” said Sethi.
“In
this research, we have demonstrated that nimbolide can inhibit tumor cell
viability—a cellular process that directly affects the ability of a cell to
proliferate, grow, divide, or repair damaged cell components—and induce
programmed cell death in prostate cancer cells.”
Looking ahead, the team is looking to embark
on a large-scale study to analyze the side effects of nimbolide and identify
other potential molecular targets for the drug.
The article can be found at: Zhang et al.
(2016) Nimbolide-Induced Oxidative Stress
Abrogates STAT3 Signaling Cascade and Inhibits Tumor Growth in Transgenic
Adenocarcinoma of Mouse Prostate Model. http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/ars.2015.6418
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