The association of sugar and sugar substitutes to breast, lung, and oral cancer cell lines: a scoping review

Cancer which synonymously known as neoplasia is a genetic disorder of cell growth that is triggered by acquired or less commonly inherited mutations affecting a single cell and its clonal progeny. The aims of this scoping review was to investigate the role of sugar and sugar substitutes in breast, lung, and oral cancers with a hypothesis that sugar promoted carcinogenesis. Three databases (EBSCO, PubMed, and Scopus) were searched from January 2010 to December 2021 to identify the preclinical studies eligible for this scoping review. The review was performed according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines. A total of 361 articles were reviewed and the qualitative synthesis used 12 of these articles. Based on the qualitative synthesis, four studies reported dietary sugar (glucose- and/or sucrose) induced cancer progression, one study revealed sugar substitute (aspartame) induced cancer proliferation, seven studies reported that sugar substitutes inhibit cancer proliferation, and one study reported that sucrose promotes cancer while xylitol inhibits cancer. In addition., it was reported that D-allose and cisplatin have a synergistic effect in treating cancer. In conclusion, simple sugar intake is associated with an increased risk of carcinogenesis. In contrast, sugar substitutes inhibit cancer cell line progression, subsequently acting as a potential cancer therapy, thus supporting the study's hypothesis

Glottic cancer in a non-smoking patient with laryngopharyngeal reflux

The onset of carcinoma of the larynx, especially of the glottis, is heralded mainly by a change of voice. It has a male preponderance and is almost exclusively common to smokers and patients with heavy alcohol consumption. We report a case of glottic carcinoma in a non-smoker female patient. The only possible risk factor for her is a history of laryngopharyngeal reflux

Atheroprotective effects of pure tocotrienol supplementation in the treatment of rabbits with experimentally induced early and established atherosclerosis

Background: Atherosclerosis is the main cause of coronary artery disease -related deaths worldwide. The atheroprotective properties of pure tocotrienols (T3) in the absence of alpha-tocopherol (α-TCP) in vitamin E has not been extensively examined. Aim: To determine the atheroprotective properties of T3 in early and established atherosclerosis rabbits. Methods: Thirty New Zealand white rabbits were divided into two groups, B1 and B2 which represent early [fed 1% high cholesterol diet (HCD) for 2 weeks] and established (fed 1% HCD for 8 weeks) atherosclerosis. Each group was subdivided into three intervention arms: 1) T3–4 mg/kg, 2) T3–15 mg/kg and 3) vehicle without T3 (T3 negative) for 8 weeks. Serial fasting blood samples were obtained for lipid profile, and whole lengths of aorta were used to determine tissue markers of endothelial activation, inflammation and plaque stability. Results: In B1, atherosclerotic lesion in T3–4 mg/kg group was significantly reduced (p=0.008), while aortic tissue expression of vascular cellular adhesion molecule 1 (VCAM-1), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP-12) was reduced in T3–4 mg/kg compared to T3-negative rabbits group (0.2±0.1 vs. 28.5±3.1%; 3.0±1.6 vs. 14.0±1.7%; and 5.2±2.2 vs. 27.7±0.8%, respectively, p<0.05). T3–15 mg/kg group showed reduction in VCAM-1, E-selectin, IL-6 and MMP-12 (3.9±1.9 vs. 28.5±3.1%; 10.3±0.5 vs. 59.8±8.5%; 2.6±1.7 vs. 14.0±1.7%; and 16.2±3.2 vs. 27.7 0.8%, respectively, p<0.05). In B2, T3–4 mg/kg group reduced aortic tissue expression of intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1), E-selectin, IL-6, MMP-12 and MMP-9 compared to T3-negative rabbits group (29.9±2.4 vs. 55.3±1.3%; 26.7±1.5 vs. 60.5±7.6%; 15.7±0.7 vs. 27.7±4.8%; 34.8±2.7 vs. 46.5±3.4%; and 25.89±3.9 vs. 45.9±1.7%, respectively, p<0.05). T3–15 mg/kg group showed reduced VCAM-1, ICAM-1, E-selectin, IL-6, MMP-12 and MMP-9 (20.5±3.3 vs. 35.6±2.5%; 24.9±1.3 vs. 55.3±1.3%; 29.9±6.7 vs. 60.5±7.6; 11.3±2.2 vs. 27.7±4.8%; 23.0±1.7 vs. 46.5±3.4%; and 17.6±1.9 vs. 45.9±1.7%, respectively, p<0.05. Conclusion: These findings suggest the possible atheroprotective role T3 plays as an adjunct supplementation to standard treatment in the prevention of CAD

Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) self-sampling: do women accept it?

This study aims to determine the acceptability of Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) self-sampling and the factors associated with willingness to buy HPV self-sampling kit in the future. A total of 164 women aged 28–60 years old from Obstetrics & Gynaecology clinics at a teaching hospital performed HPV self-sampling using the Digene HC2 DNA collection kit. After samples were taken, the participants were given self-administered questionnaires. The majority of the participants were Malay (93.9%), had attained tertiary education (65.2%) and were employed (70.1%). The acceptability was good. More than half of the participants felt that self-sampling was easy. Only 1.2% felt that the procedure was difficult to perform. Most reported no pain at all during the procedure (66.9%). The commonest concern was getting a good sample (90.1%). A number of Pap smears were found to be significantly associated with the willingness to buy the HPV self-sampling kit. HPV self-sampling has the potential to be included in the cervical cancer screening programme.Impact Statement What is already known on this subject: HPV self-sampling is acceptable in some developed and developing countries. It is acceptable because it was easy to perform with very minimal pain or discomfort. Studies on the acceptance of self-screening are needed to plan a policy on self-sampling in the future. What the results of this study add: Our study adds new findings to the body of knowledge on self-sampling in the local population. We found that more women are willing to do the self-sampling at the clinic rather than at home. Although more than 90% expressed willingness to do self-sampling in the future, only 70% of them were willing to purchase the kit. Cost is a potential barrier to women who have the interest to perform the self-sampling. Given the global economic challenges, cost is inevitably an important predictor that we have to consider. What the implications are of these findings for clinical practice and/or further research: Future research should examine women from the rural areas and those who are resilient to Pap smear screening. In clinical practice, clinicians should acknowledge that cost is a potential barrier for women who are willing to do self-sampling. Self-sampling could be an option for women with no financial constraint to buy the kit. However, clinicians should counsel women so that they can make an informed choice in determining their screening method

Prenatal Bisphenol a Exposure and Postnatal Trans Fat Diet Alter Small Intestinal Morphology and Its Global DNA Methylation in Male Sprague-Dawley Rats, Leading to Obesity Development

In this study, we aimed to determine whether a postnatal trans fat diet (TFD) could aggravate prenatal bisphenol A (BPA) exposure effects on offspring&rsquo;s small intestine and adulthood obesity, due to the relatively sparse findings on how the interaction between these two variables interrupt the small intestinal cells. Twelve pregnant rats were administered with either unspiked drinking water (control; CTL) or BPA-spiked drinking water throughout pregnancy. Twelve weaned pups from each pregnancy group were then given either a normal diet (ND) or TFD from postnatal week (PNW) 3 until PNW14, divided into control offspring on normal diet (CTL-ND), BPA-exposed offspring on normal diet (BPA-ND), control offspring on trans fat diet (CTL-TFD), and BPA offspring on trans fat diet (BPA-TFD) groups. Body weight (BW), waist circumference, and food and water intake were measured weekly in offspring. At PNW14, small intestines were collected for global DNA methylation and histological analyses. Marked differences in BW were observed starting at PNW9 in BPA-TFD (389.5 &plusmn; 10.0 g; p &lt; 0.05) relative to CTL-ND (339.0 &plusmn; 7.2 g), which persisted until PNW13 (505.0 &plusmn; 15.6 g). In contrast, water and food intake between offspring were significantly different (p &lt; 0.01&ndash;0.05) at earlier ages only (PNW4&ndash;6 and PNW7&ndash;9, respectively). Furthermore, substantial differences in the general parameters of the intestinal structures were exclusive to ileum crypt length alone, whereby both BPA-ND (150.5 &plusmn; 5.1 &mu;m; p &lt; 0.001), and BPA-TFD (130.3 &plusmn; 9.9 &mu;m; p &lt; 0.05) were significantly longer than CTL-ND (96.8 &plusmn; 8.9 &mu;m). Moreover, BPA-ND (2.898 &plusmn; 0.147%; p &lt; 0.05) demonstrated global small intestinal hypermethylation when compared to CTL-ND and CTL-TFD (1.973 &plusmn; 0.232% and 1.913 &plusmn; 0.256%, respectively). Prenatal BPA exposure may significantly affect offspring&rsquo;s physiological parameters and intestinal function. Additionally, our data suggest that there might be compensatory responses to postnatal TFD in the combined BPA prenatal group (BPA-TFD)

Ternary copper(II) complex: NCI60 screening, toxicity studies, and evaluation of efficacy in xenograft models of nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Copper(II) ternary complex, [Cu(phen)(C-dmg)(H2O)]NO3 was evaluated against a panel of cell lines, tested for in vivo efficacy in nasopharyngeal carcinoma xenograft models as well as for toxicity in NOD scid gamma mice. The Cu(II) complex displayed broad spectrum cytotoxicity against multiple cancer types, including lung, colon, central nervous system, melanoma, ovarian, and prostate cancer cell lines in the NCI-60 panel. The Cu(II) complex did not cause significant induction of cytochrome P450 (CYP) 3A and 1A enzymes but moderately inhibited CYP isoforms 1A2, 2C9, 2C19, 2D6, 2B6, 2C8 and 3A4. The complex significantly inhibited tumor growth in nasopharyngeal carcinoma xenograft bearing mice models at doses which were well tolerated without causing significant or permanent toxic side effects. However, higher doses which resulted in better inhibition of tumor growth also resulted in toxicity

Induction of CYP enzymes CYP 1A and 3A by standard drugs and Cu(II) complex.

<p>Induction of CYP enzymes CYP 1A and 3A by standard drugs and Cu(II) complex.</p

Cytotoxicity profile of tested compounds on rat primary hepatocytes.

<p>Dose-response curve of hepatocytes exposed to Tamoxifen as standard (A) and Cu(II) complex (B) for 72 h. The viability was determined by resazurin assay and the IC50 of Cu(II) complex and tamoxifen are 4.7 μM and 5.1 μM respectively.</p