Anticancer, and antioxidant activities of royal jelly on HT-29 colon cancer cells and melissopalynological analysis

Royal jelly (RJ) is reflecting the flora around the apiaries as a result of the foraging activity of honeybees and therefore, pollen analysis could be used to verify its botanical/geographical origin. Colon cancer treatment by means of chemotherapeutics agents reflects a substantial problem for the organism due to high toxicity to other viable cells of the body. To explore a chemopreventive approach to enhancing colon cancer treatment efficacy, the antioxidant and antiproliferative effects of RJ in HT-29 colon cancer cells were assessed. Cell proliferation was performed by WST-1 assay, index of apoptosis was calculated by TUNEL Assay, antioxidant activities were examined through analysis of reactive oxygen species (ROS), lipid peroxidation (LPO), total antioxidant status (TAS) levels and superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase activities. Expression of caspase-3 protein levels were analysed via immunohistochemical staining, mRNA and protein levels of apoptotic and antiapoptotic genes were studied by qRT-PCR and western blotting experiments, respectively. RJ treatment led to increase in ROS and LPO levels, decrease in SOD and catalase activity, TAS level, increase in apoptotic index and caspase-3 activation, upregulation of levels of apoptotic genes and proteins of intrinsic and extrinsic pathway (Bax, cyt-c, p53, NF kappa B, cas-3, -6, -8, -9, -10) and downregulation of antiapoptotic Bcl-2 both at transcriptional and translational levels. Although there are several studies on the physicochemical properties and composition of royal jelly, melissopalynological studies are limited. In this study, we also investigated the pollen content of RJ and the use of pollen analysis as a geographical origin determination.

Automated summary

The study evaluated the antioxidant and antiproliferative effects of royal jelly in colon cancer cells, showing that royal jelly treatment resulted in increased cell death index, oxidative stress levels, promotion of apoptotic genes and proteins, and inhibition of antiapoptotic protein expression.