Dietary intervention with Yerba Mate extract as a promising complementary treatment for colorectal cancer

ROCÍO GARCÍA LAZARO; HUMBERTO LAMDAN; LORENA CALIGIURI; NORAILYS LORENZO; ALONSO DANIEL F.; FARINA HERNÁN G

Mar del Plata

Congreso; LXIV Reunión Anual de la Sociedad Argentina de Investigación Clínica; 2019

Sociedad Argentina de Investigación Clínica

Yerba Mate (Ilex paraguariensis) is a native plant from South America. It has a large amount of bioactive compounds and has been reported to have biological activities. Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second leading cause of cancer death worldwide so efficient strategies for the treatment are being explored, including dietary intervention. Hence, this study investigated the antitumor activity of Yerba Mate extract (YMe) using in vitro and in vivo CRC models. YMe was generated by aqueous extraction and bioactive compounds were identified and quantified by RP-HPLC. The most abundant polyphenol was Chlorogenic acid (CA). We evaluated the YMe effect on cell proliferation using CT26 and COLO 205 colon cancer cell lines. The treatment with YMe inhibited cell proliferation of CT26 and COLO 205 with IC50 values of 0.25 mg/mL and 0.46 mg/mL, respectively. Using TUNEL assay we demonstrated that YMe induce apoptosis (30 %). On the other hand, we explore whether CA is the molecule responsible of biological effects of the YMe. Both YMe and commercial CA inhibited cell proliferation, adhesion, migration and the invasive capacity of tumor cells. However, YMe was the most potent inhibitor at a concentration lower than the concentrations used of CA. The effect of YMe on tumor progression was also studied in vivo using a syngeneic tumor model (CT26 cells). Animals received YMe by oral administration in a dose of 1.6 g/kg/day before and after cell inoculation. The results showed that YMe reduce new vessel formation around the tumor, delayed tumor onset and showed a reduction of tumor volume. The effects of the combination of YMe with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) was also evaluated in mice. The results suggest that this combination increased susceptibility of the colon cancer cells to the cytotoxicity of 5-Fu. In conclusion, our study suggest that YMe can be a promising candidate as healthy food sources in human nutrition, and also be considered a natural source of potential antitumor agents.