Laurus nobilis (laurel) aqueous leaf extract's toxicological and anti-tumor activities in HPV16-transgenic mice

Cancers induced by human papillomavirus (HPV) infection remain a significant public health threat, fueling the study of new therapies. Laurel (Laurus nobilis) compounds and extracts recently showed in vitro activity against HPV-transformed cell lines. This work aims to evaluate the in vivo efficacy and hepatic toxicity of a laurel extract in a transgenic mouse model of HPV16-induced cancer. The extract was administered in drinking water (20 mg per animal per day) for three consecutive weeks, using four experimental groups (n = 10) (group I: HPV16−/− without treatment, group II: treated HPV16−/−, group III: HPV16+/− without treatment and group IV: treated HPV16+/−). Following the treatment period, animals were sacrificed and skin samples were used to classify skin lesions histologically. Toxicological parameters included hematological and biochemical blood markers, splenic and hepatic histology and hepatic oxidative stress. The extract did not prevent the progression of HPV16-induced cutaneous lesions in this model. The treated wildtype animals showed mild hepatitis, while transgenic animals suffered weight loss. However, there were no changes concerning hematological, biochemical and hepatic oxidative stress markers.This work was supported by: Integrative Research in Environment, Agro-Chains and Technology no. NORTE-01- 0145-FEDER-000017, in its line of research entitled ISAC, cofinanced by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through NORTE 2020 (North Regional Operational Program 2014/2020). European Investment Funds by FEDER/COMPETE/ POCI– Operational Competitiveness and Internationalization Programme, under Project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006958 and National Funds by FCT - Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, under the project UID/AGR/04033/2013. This study was also funded by Liga Portuguesa Contra o Cancro, by the Research Center of the Portuguese Institute of Oncology of Porto (CI-IPOP 37-2016), by project POCI-01-0145- FEDER-006939 (Laboratory for Process Engineering, Environment, Biotechnology and Energy – LEPABE), project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006958 and UID/AGR/04033/2013, funded by FEDER funds through COMPETE2020 - Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização (POCI) – and by national funds through FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia; Rui M. Gil da Costa was funded by grant number SFRH/BPD/85462/2012 from FCT, funded by the Portuguese Government and the Social European Fund. The authors are also grateful to FCT, Portugal and FEDER under Programme PT2020 for financial support to CIMO (UID/AGR/ 00690/2013), and to the Interreg España-Portugal for financial support through the project 0377_Iberphenol_6_E.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Effect of hidroethanolic extract of Lavandula pedunculata (mill.) Cav. On morphometric parameters in HPV-16 trangenic mice

Lavandula penduculata (Mill.) Cav., common English name French lavender, belongs to the Lamiaceae family and has been used as a medicinal plant in infusions for respiratory and digestive systems and as a therapeutic agent with antiseptic action for cleaning wounds [1,2]. The K14HPV16 mice is a skin squamous carcinoma model that can be used to test the antitumoral properties of several chemical and natural products [3]. The aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of the hydroethanolic French lavender extract (FLE) on body weight, relative organs weights, food and water consumption in an HPV-16-transgenic mice model. The extract was obtained from a maceration with ethanol/water (80:20, v/v), and the phenolic composition was determined through HPLC-DAD-ESI/MS. Twenty-eight male mice were randomly divided into four groups (n=7/group) according to their genotype: group I (HPV16- control); II (HPV16- FLE); III (HPV16+ control) and IV (HPV16+ FLE). The FLE was administrated orally in drinking water at 6.8 mg/10mL/animal to animals from groups II and IV and changed every 4 days. The animals were kept under controlled conditions such as temperature, light and humidity. Food and water were kept ad libitum body weight, food and water consumption were measured weekly as well as animal welfare. After twentynine days, all animals were sacrificed by anaesthetic overdose and blood was obtained from cardiac punction. The organs were collected and immediately weighted. Data was analysed using SPSS 25. The differences were considered statistically significant at p<0.05. A total of thirteen compounds were identified in the hydroethanolic extract, being salvianolic acid B and rosmarinic acid the main molecules present. Moreover, the compounds revealed to be stable in the drinking water during the 5 tested days. HPV animals exposed to FLE (group III) showed higher values of body weight variation than HPV animals not exposed to lavender in week 1, 2 and 3 (p<0.05), suggesting that the FLE was highly palatable. However, the values of food consumption were identical between groups and water intake was higher in transgenic animals as expected. The relative organ weight of heart, lung, kidneys, adrenals and liver did not demonstrate differences between groups (p<0.05). According to our results the consumption of French lavender demonstrated a favourable and safe toxicological profile using these experimental conditionsThis work was supported by European Investment Funds by FEDER/ COMPETE/POCI - Operational Competitiveness and Internationalization Program and National Funds by FCT - Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, under the projects Project UIDB/04033/2020 (CITAB), and PhD fellowship SFRH/BD/136747/2018 and 2020.04789.BD. The authors are also grateful to FCT for financial support through national funds FCT/MCTES to CIMO (UIDB/00690/2020). L. Barros thanks FCT, P.I for her contract through the institutional scientific employment program. This work was also funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Regional Operational Program North 2020, within the scope of Project GreenHealth - Norte-01-0145-FEDER-000042. The authors would like to thank BPGV for the samples provided.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Histological lesions in hpv16-transgenic model: the effect of hidroethanolic extract of Lavandula pedunculata (mill.) Cav.

The K14HPV16 mice is a skin squamous carcinoma model that can be used to test antitumoral properties of several chemical and natural compounds1. Lavandula penduculata (Mill.) Cav., known as lavender, belongs to the Laminaceae family and has been used in traditional medicine as infusions to treat several conditions2. This work aimed to evaluate the effects of the hydroethanolic French lavender extract (FLE) in an HPV16-transgenic mice model lesions. The extract was obtained through a maceration with ethanol/water (80:20, v/v) and its phenolic composition was determined by HPLC-DADESI/ MS. The FLE was dissolved in drinking water at 6.8 mg/10mL/animal and the animals were supplemented during 29 consecutive days. Twentyeight male mice were randomly divided into four groups: (n=7/group): group I (HPV16- control); II (HPV16- FLE); III (HPV16+ control) and IV (HPV16+ FLE). After 29 days all animals were sacrificed by xylazineketamine overdose following cardiac puncture to obtain blood samples. Skin samples (chest and ear), kidney, liver and spleen were processed for histological analysis.A total of thirteen compounds were identified in the hydroethanolic extract, being salvianolic acid B and rosmarinic acid the main molecules present. Moreover, the compounds revealed to be stable in the drinking water for 5 days. Histological analyses of skin samples from wild-type mice exposed (group II) and not exposed (group I) to FLE showed normal skin histology. Group III showed skin chest epidermal hyperplasia in 100% of the mice while group IV showed less epidermal hyperplasia frequency (66.6%) (p>0.05). Concerning to liver, kidney, and spleen lesions there are no differences between groups (p>0.05). The lavender extract did not prevent the progression of HPV-16 induced cutaneous lesions in this model. These data deserve more investigation to clarify the effect of lavender extract on HPV-16 lesions.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio