Identifying Potential Therapeutics for Osteoporosis by Exploiting the Relationship between Mevalonate Pathway and Bone Metabolism

Wan Hasan WN, Chin KY, Jolly JJ, Abd Ghafar N, Soelaiman IN.

Endocr Metab Immune Disord Drug Targets. 2018 Apr 23. doi: 10.2174/1871530318666180423122409. [Epub ahead of print]

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Osteoporosis is a silent skeletal disease characterized by low bone mass and destruction of skeletal microarchitecture, leading to an increased fracture risk. This occurs due to an imbalance in bone remodelling, whereby the rate of bone resorption is greater than bone formation. Mevalonate pathway, previously known to involve in cholesterol synthesis, is an important regulatory pathway for bone remodelling.

OBJECTIVE:

This review aimed to provide an overview of the relationship between mevalonate pathway and bone metabolism, as well as agents which act through this pathway to achieve their therapeutic potential.

DISCUSSION:

Mevalonate pathway produces farnesyl pyrophosphate and geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate essential in protein prenylation. An increase in protein prenylation favours bone resorption over bone formation. Non-nitrogen containing bisphosphonates inhibit farnesyl diphosphate synthase which produces farnesyl pyrophosphate. They are used as the first line therapy for osteoporosis. Statins, a well-known class of cholesterol-lowering agents, inhibit 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase, the rate-determining enzyme in the mevalonate pathway. It was shown to increase bone mineral density and prevent fracture in humans. Tocotrienol is a group of vitamin E commonly found in palm oil, rice bran and annatto bean. It causes degradation of HMG-CoA reductase. Many studies demonstrated that tocotrienol prevented bone loss in animal studies but its efficacy has not been tested in humans.

CONCLUSION:

mevalonate pathway can be exploited to develop effective antiosteoporosis agents.

KEYWORDS:

bone; bone metabolism; mevalonate pathway; tocotrienol; vitamin E.

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Effects of tocotrienol from Bixa orellana (annatto) on bone histomorphometry in a male osteoporosis model induced by buserelin

Mohamad NV, Soelaiman IN, Chin KY.

Biomed Pharmacother. 2018 Apr 16;103:453-462. doi: 10.1016/j.biopha.2018.04.083. [Epub ahead of print]

Abstract

INTRODUCTION:

Osteoporosis is a debilitating skeletal side effect of androgen deprivation therapy based on gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonist in men. Tocotrienol from Bixa orellana (annatto) has been demonstrated to offer protection against osteoporosis by exerting anabolic effects on bone. Thus, it may prevent osteoporosis among GnRH agonist users.

OBJECTIVE:

This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of annatto-tocotrienol on the bone turnover markers and bone histomorphometry in a model of male osteoporosis induced by buserelin (a GnRH agonist).

METHODS:

Forty-six three-months-old male Sprague-Dawley rats (three months old; 300-350 g) were randomly divided into six groups. The baseline control group (n = 6) was sacrificed at the onset of the study. The normal control group (n = 8) received corn oil (the vehicle of tocotrienol) orally daily and normal saline (the vehicle of buserelin) subcutaneously daily. The buserelin control (n = 8) received corn oil orally daily and subcutaneous buserelin injection 75 μg/kg/day daily. The calcium control (n = 8) received 1% calcium in drinking water and subcutaneous buserelin injection 75 μg/kg/day. The remaining rats were treated with two different treatments, i.e., (1) oral annatto tocotrienol at 60 mg/kg/day plus subcutaneous buserelin injection 75 μg/kg/day (n = 8); (2) oral annatto tocotrienol at 100 mg/kg/day plus subcutaneous buserelin injection 75 μg/kg/day (n = 8). The rats were injected with calcein twice before being sacrificed to label the bones. The rats were euthanized, and their blood and right femur were harvested at the end of the treatment for bone turnover markers and bone histomorphometry examination.

RESULTS:

Both serum osteocalcin and C-telopeptide of type 1 collagen were not significantly different between treated groups and buserelin control (P > 0.05). The buserelin control group had a significantly lower bone volume and higher eroded surface compared with the normal control group (P < 0.05). Both groups treated with annatto tocotrienol (60 mg/kg/day and 100 mg/kg/day) had significantly higher bone volume, trabecular thickness and osteoblast number, as well as a significantly lower single-labelled surface compared with the buserelin control (P < 0.05). Only rats treated with annatto tocotrienol 60 mg/kg/day had a significantly higher double-labelled surface compared with buserelin control (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION:

Annatto tocotrienol can prevent trabecular bone loss by increasing the mineralising surface and osteoblasts number. Thus, it has a potential role in preventing bone loss in men using GnRH agonist

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A major component of vitamin E, α-tocopherol inhibits the anti-tumor activity of crizotinib against cells transformed by EML4-ALK

Uchihara Y, Kidokoro T, Tago K, Mashino T, Tamura H, Funakoshi-Tago M

Eur J Pharmacol. 2018 Apr 15;825:1-9. doi: 10.1016/j.ejphar.2018.02.012. Epub 2018 Feb 11.

Abstract

Crizotinib is an inhibitor of anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) and is of significant therapeutic benefit to patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring the EML4-ALK fusion gene. In the present study, we demonstrated that α-tocopherol, a major component of vitamin E, attenuated the effects of crizotinib independently of its anti-oxidant properties. α-Tocopherol significantly inhibited crizotinib-induced apoptosis in cells transformed by EML4-ALK. It also effectively attenuated the crizotinib-induced inhibition of EML4-ALK and its downstream molecules, STAT3 and ERK, and suppressed the inhibitory effects of crizotinib on EML4-ALK-mediated transformation in the focus formation assay. On the other hand, other members of the vitamin E family, namely, β-tocopherol, γ-tocopherol, δ-tocopherol, and α-tocotrienol, and a water-soluble analog of vitamin E, Trolox had no effects on the anti-tumor activity of crizotinib in cells transformed by EML4-ALK. Collectively, these results revealed the risk of the anti-tumor activity of crizotinib being attenuated when it is administrated in combination with vitamin Esupplements containing α-tocopherol as a major component.

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Cebpd Is Essential for Gamma-Tocotrienol Mediated Protection against Radiation-Induced Hematopoietic and Intestinal Injury

Banerjee S, Shah SK, Melnyk SB, Pathak R, Hauer-Jensen M, Pawar SA.

Antioxidants (Basel). 2018 Apr 6;7(4). pii: E55. doi: 10.3390/antiox7040055.

Abstract

Gamma-tocotrienol (GT3) confers protection against ionizing radiation (IR)-induced injury. However, the molecular targets that underlie the protective functions of GT3 are not yet known. We have reported that mice lacking CCAAT enhancer binding protein delta (Cebpd-/-) display increased mortality to IR due to injury to the hematopoietic and intestinal tissues and that Cebpd protects from IR-induced oxidative stress and cell death. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether Cebpd mediates the radio protective functions of GT3. We found that GT3-treated Cebpd-/- mice showed partial recovery of white blood cells compared to GT3-treated Cebpd⁺/+ mice at 2 weeks post-IR. GT3-treated Cebpd-/- mice showed an increased loss of intestinal crypt colonies, which correlated with increased expression of inflammatory cytokines and chemokines, increased levels of oxidized glutathione (GSSG), S-nitrosoglutathione (GSNO) and 3-nitrotyrosine (3-NT) after exposure to IR compared to GT3-treated Cebpd+/+ mice. Cebpd is induced by IR as well as a combination of IR and GT3 in the intestine. Studies have shown that granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF), mediates the radioprotective functions of GT3. Interestingly, we found that IR alone as well as the combination of IR and GT3 caused robust augmentation of plasma G-CSF in both Cebpd⁺/+ and Cebpd-/- mice. These results identify a novel role for Cebpd in GT3-mediated protection against IR-induced injury, in part via modulation of IR-induced inflammation and oxidative/nitrosative stress, which is independent of G-CSF.

KEYWORDS:

Cebpd; GSH; GSNO; gamma tocotrienol; granulocyte-colony stimulating factor; hematopoietic injury; intestinal injury; ionizing radiation

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Proteasome inhibitors modulate anticancer and anti-proliferative properties via NF-kB signaling, and ubiquitin-proteasome pathways in cancer cell lines of different organs

Qureshi AA, Zuvanich EG, Khan DA, Mushtaq S, Silswal N, Qureshi N

Lipids Health Dis. 2018 Apr 2;17(1):62. doi: 10.1186/s12944-018-0697-5.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Cancer is second most common cause of death in the United State. There are over 100 different types of cancer associated with different human organs, predominantly breast, liver, pancreas, prostate, colon, rectum, lung, and stomach. We have recently reported properties of pro-inflammatory (for treatment of various types of cancers), and anti-inflammatory (for cardiovascular disease and diabetes) compounds. The major problem associated with development of anticancer drugs is their lack of solubility in aqueous solutions and severe side effects in cancer patients. Therefore, the present study was carried out to check anticancer properties of selected compounds, mostly aqueous soluble, in cancer cell lines from different organs.

METHODS:

The anticancer properties, anti-proliferative, and pro-apoptotic activity of novel naturally occurring or FDA approved, nontoxic, proteasome inhibitors/activators were compared. In addition to that, effect of δ-tocotrienol on expression of proteasome subunits (X, Y, Z, LMP7, LMP2, LMP10), ICAM-1, VCAM-1, and TNF-α using total RNAs derived from plasmas of hepatitis C patients was investigated.

RESULTS:

Our data demonstrated that following compounds are very effective in inducing apoptosis of cancer cells: Thiostrepton, dexamethasone, 2-methoxyestradiol, δ-tocotrienol, quercetin, amiloride, and quinine sulfate have significant anti-proliferation properties in Hela cells (44% – 87%) with doses of 2.5-20 μM, compared to respective controls. Anti-proliferation properties of thiostrepton, 2-methoxyestradiol, δ-tocotrienol, and quercetin were 70% – 92%. However, thiostrepton, dexamethasone, 2-methoxyestradiol, δ-tocotrienol, quercetin, and quinine sulphate were effective in pancreatic, prostate, breast, lungs, melanoma, Β-lymphocytes, and T-cells (Jurkat: 40% to 95%) compared to respective controls. In lung cancer cells, these compounds were effective between 5 and 40 μM. The IC50 values of anti-proliferation properties of thiostrepton in most of these cell lines were between doses of 2.5-5 μM, dexamethasone 2.5-20 μM, 2-methoxyestradiol 2.5-10 μM, δ-tocotrienol 2.5-20 μM, quercetin 10-40 μM, and (-) Corey lactone 40-80 μM. In hepatitis C patients, δ-tocotrienol treatment resulted in significant decrease in the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines.

CONCLUSIONS:

These data demonstrate effectiveness of several natural-occurring compounds with anti-proliferative properties against cancer cells of several organs of humans. Thiostrepton, dexamethasone, 2-methoxyestradiol, δ-tocotrienol and quercetin are very effective for apoptosis of cancer cells in liver, pancreas, prostate, breast, lung, melanoma, Β-lymphocytes and T-cells. The results have provided an opportunity to test these compounds either individually or in combination as dietary supplements in humans for treatment of various types of cancers.

KEYWORDS:

B-lymphocytes; Breast; Inflammatory biomarkers; Liver; Lung; Melanoma; Pancreas; Potent anticancer compounds; Prostate; Several cancer cell lines (Hela; T-cells)

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