Exploring the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant potential of Brazilian berry peel extract (Myrciaria jaboticaba) as an alternative therapy for prostate cancer: chemopreventive approach for evaluation of immediate and prolonged effects

• Grant number: 24/06025-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: November 01, 2024
• End date: February 28, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine - Pathological Anatomy and Clinical Pathology
• Principal Investigator: Fabio Montico
• Grantee: Ana Clara Trovo Vecchi
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biologia (IB). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The increase in global life expectancy, and consequently in the number of elderly people, emphasizes the problem of age-related pathologies. Among these pathologies, prostate cancer (PCa) is important due to its high incidence and lethality, with approximately 10,000 disease-associated deaths in Brazil every year. Since the most commonly used therapies to treat PCa, such as chemical and/or surgical castration, have reduced efficacy in the most aggressive stage of the disease, it is extremely important to find alternative therapies or chemopreventive approaches against this type of cancer. Jabuticaba peel extract (JPE) is a promising option, since it has low toxicity and is rich in compounds that inhibit inflammation and oxidative stress, two factors that are known to contribute to the development and progression of CaP. Therefore, the aim of this study will be to evaluate the immediate and prolonged chemopreventive effects of JPE on the progression of PCa in the ventral prostate of the Transgenic Adenocarcinoma of the Mouse Prostate (TRAMP) model, relating such effects to inflammation and oxidative stress pathways. For this purpose, sixty 10-week-old male TRAMP mice will be divided into six experimental groups: two groups for the evaluation of the immediate effects of JPE after 8 or 12 weeks of treatment (TJI18 and TJI22), with their respective control groups (TCI18 and TCI22); and one group for assessing the prolonged effect of the extract (TJP22) with its corresponding control group (TCP22). At the end of the treatments, ventral prostate and plasma samples will be harvested for light microscopy, immunohistochemicalWestern Blotting and/or enzymatic analyses.