European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

ISOLATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF ANTIMETASTATIC COMPONENTS FROM BLACK CUMIN (NIGELLA SATIVA) AND SWALLOW ROOT (DECALEPIS HAMILTONII)

*Vulli Venkata Rao, Vempati Poornodai, Suberu Safiu Adewale and Nancy Bonareri Mitaki

ABSTRACT

Cancer is a complex multi-step disease, rising constantly in both developing and developed countries leading to mortality. Developing a strategy for cancer therapy has been difficult since cancer cell poses lots of challenges to normal cells by self-regulating their survival and dysregulating normal cellular action. Current study explores the possibility of dietary antimetastatic polysaccharides from black cumin (Nigella sativa) and swallow root (Decalepis hamiltonii) that can effectively target galectin-3, a key molecule in metastasis causing severity of cancer pathogenicity and death. The results showed that swallow root had higher yield of ~ 6.2% of pectic polysaccharide [SRPP] as opposed to 0.8% in Black cumin pectic polysaccharide (BCPP). Also, SRPP had ~ 14.6 and 70 fold higher galectin-3 inhibitory activity when compared to galectin specific sugar - galactose and BCPP, respectively, indicating the increased antimetastatic potency of SRPP. Purification of SRPP followed by activity determination indicated that SRPP – 0.15 M fraction was more active with ~ 462 fold increase in activity than that of the crude SRPP; Active fraction had a molecular size of 250 kDa. Sugar composition analysis and correlation studies suggested that precise arrangement of arabinose and galactose in an arabinogalactan pectic polysaccharide is important in offering potent galectin-3 inhibitory effect. Galectin-3 inhibitory effect could be attributed to antimetastatic activity.

Keywords: Cancer is a complex multi-step antimetastatic activity.