In vitro analyses of the lignans action extracted from Piper nigrum in different cell lines

• Grant number: 17/21089-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: March 01, 2018
• End date: December 31, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Morphology - Cytology and Cell Biology
• Principal Investigator: Flávia Cristina Rodrigues Lisoni
• Grantee: Luana Pereira Cardoso
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Engenharia (FEIS). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Ilha Solteira. Ilha Solteira , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Cervical cancer accounts for the third most frequent type of cancer and the fourth leading cause of death in women, it may be related to the hormone estrogen that stimulates the proliferation and maintenance of the tumor in the cervix. Estrogen can be inhibited by the action of phytoestrogens that have the antiestrogenic and the antiproliferative effect, thus contributing to the reduction and even cure of the tumor. Lignans are considered phytoestrogens, which have an antitumorigenic effect and some of them are used in the chemotherapy process. Because many chemotherapeutics cause side effects that lead to functional impairments, there is increasing research with plants seeking a more effective and less invasive herbal remedy. Piper nigrum is one of them and has aroused scientific interest in having anti-inflammatory, antihypertensive, antioxidant, antimicrobial and antidepressant effects beyond the antitumorigenic potential. However, these effects were explored in the fruit and seed of the plant, whereas in the leaf there is little research, but it is already known that the P. nigrum leaf contains lignans such as cubebina that showed in numerous works properties that makes it an herbal medicine with potential antitumorigenic effect. Therefore, the present project aims to evaluate changes in morphology, cytotoxicity and proliferation by the action of P. nigrum leaf extract in human uterine cervix carcinoma (SiHa) and human keratinocytes (HaCaT) cell lines, to explore the antitumorigenic potential and the ability of the extract to selectively activate tumor cells. (AU)