A promising chemosesitization role of inulin in management of experimentally induced hepatocellular carcinoma

Abstract

Objectives Globally, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is an important reason of death due to cancer. The present study investigates antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of inulin (IN) in HCC rat model.
Methods Five groups of rats were treated for 4 months, a control group, received intra peritoneal saline daily, HCC group given freshly prepared thioacetamide (TAA) solution orally, twice weekly (200 mg/kg bw), cisplatin (CP) + TAA group (single intra peritoneal(IP) dose of CP, 7.5 mg/kg bw + TAA as mentioned), fourth group received oral doses of IN, 10 mg/kg bw, daily+TAA), the fifth group was given a single dose of CP + IN + TAA for 4 months.
Results HCC exhibited periportal fibrosis, nuclear/cytoplasmic ratio increments, significant increase in alpha fetoprotein (AFP), malondialdehyde (MDA), protein carbonyl (PC), xanthine oxidase (XO) and aldehyde oxidase (AO) activity. Hepatic glutathione (GSH), total antioxidant capacity (TAC), super oxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activities, were decreased. Significant decrease in B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl2), while a significant increase in levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and P53 in HCC group.
Conclusions Treatment of HCC rats with CP or IN improved such effects. IN was more effective than CP, and the best effect was observed using both drugs. Conclusively, IN is a chemo-sensitizer to CP in the treatment of HCC through restoration of the antioxidant defense mechanism, anti-apoptotic and anti-inflammatory properties.