Abstract

Background: The primary goal of researchers interested in the field of oncology continues to be the development of a new anti-cancer medicine with minimal side effects. Due to their minimal toxicity and impressive performance, natural source-mediated anti-cancer treatments are attracting a lot of attention.

Objective: The purpose of the current work was to extract and purify resveratrol from local Leguminosae, such as peanut, beans, cowpea, lupine, fava bean, and soybean, and then assess its cyclooxygenase- 2 (COX-2) inhibition. The aim was then to evaluate the anticancer potential of extracted resveratrol individually or combined with doxorubicin against Ehrlich ascites carcinoma (EAC) model.

Methods: Resveratrol was extracted and purified using a silica gel column. The inhibition study of extracted resveratrol was conducted against COX-2 in vitro. Then, the anti-proliferation impact of resveratrol alone or combined with doxorubicin was evaluated against the previously established EAC model. Apoptotic/anti-apoptotic genes and cell cycle arrest were investigated.

Results: After being extracted from peanuts, resveratrol inhibited COX-2 in vitro competitively with an inhibition constant (Ki) of 0.545 μM, which is extremely close to the theoretically predicted value (0.48 μM) from molecular docking. Further, resveratrol obviously inhibited COX-2 in vivo. Importantly, resveratrol was able to cause apoptosis by upregulating Bax and downregulating the anti-apoptotic gene Bcl-2, either by itself or in combination with doxorubicin. Additionally, resveratrol's ability to stop the cell cycle is evidence of its COX-2-inhibiting antiproliferative properties.

Conclusion: Resveratrol exhibits anticancer potential via inhibition of COX-2, and it could be appropriate for combinational therapy in vivo.

Graphical Abstract