Another promising plant for natures pharmacy boswellic acid

pete43lost_at_sea
pete43lost_at_sea Member Posts: 3,900 Member
in Colorectal Cancer #1
Americas best functional doctor sent me this, glad i am a friendly aussie has has some clever friends. just an fyi................

its just my opinion, but my functional doctor here mentioned boswellic acid also a few months ago.

hugs,
Pete

Boswellic acid induces epigenetic alterations by modulating DNA methylation in colorectal cancer cells.
Shen Y, Takahashi M, Byun HM, Link A, Sharma N, Balaguer F, Leung HC, Boland CR, Goel A.
Source
GI Cancer Research Laboratory, Charles A. Sammons Cancer Center and Baylor Research Institute, Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA.
Abstract
Accumulating evidence suggests that chemopreventive effects of some dietary polyphenols may in part be mediated by their ability to influence epigenetic mechanisms in cancer cells. Boswellic acids, derived from the plant Boswellia serrata, have long been used for the treatment of various inflammatory diseases due to their potent anti-inflammatory activities. Recent preclinical studies have also suggested that this compound has anti-cancer potential against various malignancies. However, the precise molecular mechanisms underlying their anti-cancer effects remain elusive. Herein, we report that boswellic acids modulate DNA methylation status of several tumor suppressor genes in colorectal cancer (CRC) cells. We treated RKO, SW48 and SW480 CRC cell lines with the active principle present in boswellic acids, acetyl-keto-β-boswellic acid (AKBA). Using genome-wide DNA methylation and gene expression microarray analyses, we discovered that AKBA induced a modest genome-wide demethylation that permitted simultaneous re-activation of the corresponding tumor suppressor genes. The quantitative methylation-specific PCR and RT-PCR validated the gene demethylation and re-expression in several putative tumor suppressor genes including SAMD14 and SMPD3. Furthermore, AKBA inhibited DNMT activity in CRC cells. Taken together, these results lend further support to the growing notion that anti-cancer effect of boswellic acids may in part be due to its ability to demethylate and reactivate methylation-silenced tumor suppressor genes. These results suggest that not only boswellic acid might be a promising epigenetic modulator in the chemoprevention and treatment of CRC, but also provide a rationale for future investigations on the usefulness of such botanicals for epigenetic therapy in other human malignancies.
PMID: 22415137 [PubMed - in process] PMCID: PMC3364790 [Available on 2013/5/1]

Comments

  • janie1
    janie1 Member Posts: 753 Member
    #2
    hey Pete
    What's a functional doctor......here's hoping they're all somewhat functional.
    Who's America's best?
    What does chemoprevention mean? Or is it just what it says?? No chemo needed?
    Thanks. I like reading this stuff whatever it means.
  • tanstaafl
    tanstaafl Member Posts: 1,313 Member
    #3
    yes
    My wife uses boswellia and it is on Life Extension's list.
  • smokeyjoe
    smokeyjoe Member Posts: 1,425 Member
    #4
    tanstaafl said:

    yes
    My wife uses boswellia and it is on Life Extension's list.

    Perhaps one of the most
    Perhaps one of the most important studies of boswellia aside from all the anti-inflammatory, anti-edema research, is a German study of boswellia's effects against topoisomerases I and IIalpha4. Amazingly, the authors showed that the aceytl-boswellic acids are "more potent inhibitors of human topoisomerases I and IIalpha than camptothecin, and amsacrine or etoposide, respectively." Camptothecin is the organic alktylator from which CPT-11 (irinotecan) is derived. Both CPT-11 and VP-16 (etoposide) are common chemo agents in brain tumor therapies. Human topoisomerases I and IIalpha bind directly to an immobilized derivative of acetyl-boswellic acids. One of the authors of this study, Prof. Thomas Simmet, has reportedly suggested that patients using pharmaceutical topoisomerase inhibitors such as CPT-11 should not concomitantly use boswellia extracts, but there is no independent confirmation of this statement to date.

    Interesting to see this comparison to irinotecan.

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