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Silymarin attenuated mast cell recruitment thereby decreased the expressions of matrix metalloproteinases-2 and 9 in rat liver carcinogenesis

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An Erratum to this article was published on 31 October 2012

Summary

Liver cancer is the sixth most common cancer worldwide but because of very poor prognosis, it is the third most common cause of death from cancer. There are currently limited therapeutic regimens available for effective treatment of this cancer. Silymarin is a naturally derived polyphenolic antioxidant, is the active constituent in a widely consumed dietary supplement milk thistle (Silybum marianum) extract. Mast cells play an important role in the inflammatory component of a developing neoplasm; they are also a major source for matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), which are involved in invasion and angiogenesis. In the present study, we investigated whether dietary supplementation of silymarin has any role in mast cell density (MCD) and in the expressions of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in N-nitrosodiethylamine induced (NDEA) liver cancer in Wistar albino male rats. NDEA administered rats showed increased MCD as revealed by toluidine blue staining along with upregulated expressions of MMP-2 and MMP-9. Silymarin treatment inhibited this increase in MCD and downregulated the expressions of MMP-2 and MMP-9 as revealed by Western blotting and immunohistochemistry. In conclusion, silymarin exerted beneficial effects on liver carcinogenesis by attenuating the recruitment of mast cells and thereby decreased the expressions of MMP-2 and MMP-9.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Prof. W.G. Stetler-Stevenson, NIH, USA for his kind gift of antibodies to MMP-2 and MMP-9. This work was supported in part by Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR), Government of India, New Delhi.

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  1. Department of Biochemisty, University of Madras, Guindy Campus, Chennai, 600025, Tamilnadu, India

    Gopalakrishnan Ramakrishnan, Sundaram Jagan, Sattu Kamaraj, Pandi Anandakumar & Thiruvengadam Devaki

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  1. Gopalakrishnan Ramakrishnan
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Correspondence to Thiruvengadam Devaki.

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An erratum to this article can be found online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10637-012-9892-9.

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Ramakrishnan, G., Jagan, S., Kamaraj, S. et al. Silymarin attenuated mast cell recruitment thereby decreased the expressions of matrix metalloproteinases-2 and 9 in rat liver carcinogenesis. Invest New Drugs 27, 233–240 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10637-008-9163-y

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