ABSTRACT
The effect of dietary administered young barley containing a mixture of phytochemicals to female rats for the prevention of N-methyl-N-nitrosourea-induced mammary carcinogenesis was evaluated. After carcinogen administration (14 wk), mammary tumors were removed and prepared for histopathological and immunohistochemical analysis. Moreover, in vitro evaluation of possible mechanisms in MCF-7 breast cancer cell line was performed. Barley (0.3%) demonstrated mild antitumor effect in mammary carcinogenesis, yet 3% barley did not further improve this effect. Immunohistochemical analysis of rat tumor cells in treated groups showed significant increase in caspase-3 expression and significant reduction in Ki67 expression. In addition, 3% barley significantly decreased dityrosine levels versus control. Barley in higher dose significantly decreased serum low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol in rats. In vitro studies showed that barley significantly decreased survival of MCF-7 cells in 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay and significantly decreased 5-bromo-20-deoxyuridine incorporation versus control. Barley prevented cell cycle progression and extended incubation with barley showed significant increase in the percentage of annexin V/propidium iodide-positive MCF-7 cells. Our results propose an antitumor effect for the mixture of phytochemicals present in young barley in a breast cancer model.
Funding
This work was supported by the Scientific Grant Agency of the Ministry of Education of the Slovak Republic under the contract no. VEGA 1/0071/13 and the Slovak Research and Development Agency under the contract no. APVV-0325-07. This study was supported by the project MediPark, Košice (Medicínsky univerzitný park v Košiciach) (ITMS: 26220220185) (50%) and by Operational Programme Research and Development (OP VaV-2012/2.2/08-RO) (contract no. OPVaV/12/2013) (95%). This work was supported by the grant “Martin Biomed Centre (BioMed Martin)” (ITMS: 26220220187).