Cinnamomum cassia twigs may provide anti-cancer effects

According to a study published in the journal BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Cinnamomum cassia twigs may provide anti-cancer effects.

The researchers from the National Institute of Forest Science, Andong National University, and Kyonggi University in South Korea looked at the anti-proliferative effect and the induction of apoptosis in human colorectal cancer cells mechanism of C. cassia twigs.

The research team also used the extracts of Cinnamomum cassia twigs in the study. They used an MTT asssay to assessed the anti-cell proliferative effect of C. cassia twigs. In order to evaluate the change of protein or mRNA level by the extracts, they used Western blot and RT-RCR, respectively.

The promoter construct for activating transcription factor (ATF3), NF-κB, TOP-FLASH or FOP-FLASH was used for the study of the transcriptional activity for ATF3, NF-κB or Wnt; while siRNA for ATF3 or p65 was used for the knockdown of ATF3 and p65.

CONCLUSION

the researchers concluded that Cinnamomum cassia twigs reduced the cell viability in human colorectal cancer cells. It also decreased cyclin D1 protein level by proteasomal degradation and transcriptional inhibition, suppressing cell proliferation. It may also induce apoptosis by ROS-dependent NF-κB and ATF3 activation. As a result, these effects may help in the reduction of cell viability in human colorectal cancer cells.

The result of the research shows that the extracts of Cinnamomum cassia twigs could potentially be a therapeutic agent for the development of colorectal cancer treatments.