Researchers at the Universidad Internacional Iberoamericana (International Iberoamerican University) (UNIB), Nohora Martínez and Mercedes Urbano, are collaborating in a study on the chemosensitizing effects of Manuka honey against 5-fluorouracil in colon spheres.
According to GLOBOCAN 2020 of the World Health Organization (WHO), colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most widespread cancer in the world, after breast and lung cancer; it is also the second in mortality, second only to lung cancer.
The survival rate of patients 5 years after the first diagnosis is still very low, despite therapeutic advances. The main cause is chemoresistance, which is why it is currently one of the main challenges in oncology research. The phenomenon of chemoresistance consists of resistance to drugs, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy, and is caused by several factors, one of which is the self-renewal of cancer stem cells.
In this regard, in recent years, researchers have demonstrated a pleiotropic effect of Manuka honey (MH) against CRC cells. Mainly, it was determined that MH could repress cell proliferation and viability, induce apoptosis, cell cycle arrest, attenuate mitochondrial bioenergetic function, etc.
Therefore, this study investigated whether MH had chemosensitizing effect against 5-fluorouracil in colon enriched with cancer stem cells (CSCs), which are responsible for chemoresistance. 5-fluorouracil (5-Fu), a synthetic analog of pyrimidine, is the most widely used chemotherapeutic drug to treat CRC. For this purpose, a three-dimensional experimental model of colon spheres was used, as it better mimics the in vivo condition, which is much better than a usual two-dimensional model.
Research results
In the study, it was determined that the efficacy of 5-Fu was improved when combined with MH in down-regulating ABCG2 gene expression, which is on the surface of cancer stem cells and is directly linked to chemoresistance, as it pushes chemotherapy drugs out of cells into the extracellular space. Likewise, Manuka honey demonstrated its ability to increase the efficiency of 5-Fu.
If you want to know more about this fascinating study, click here.
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Finally, the Universidad Internacional Iberoamericana (UNIB) offers the Master in Naturopathic Sciences. This program is oriented to professional research to prepare people who can provide guidance on the different aspects and modalities of naturopathy.