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Synergistic Effect of Combination of Phenethyl Isothiocyanate and Sulforaphane or Curcumin and Sulforaphane in the Inhibition of Inflammation

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Abstract

Purpose

Accumulating evidence from epidemiologic and clinical studies indicates that chronic inflammatory disorders harbor an increased risk of cancer development. Curcumin (CUR) has been strongly linked to the anti-inflammatory effect. On the other hand, isothiocyanates such as sulforaphane (SFN) and phenethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC) are strong phase-II detoxifying/antioxidant enzymes inducer. Therefore it is interesting to see if combination of these drugs can inhibit inflammation with higher combined efficacies.

Methods

We used nitric oxide (NO) assay to assess the synergism of the different combinations of CUR, SFN and PEITC. The inflammatory markers, e.g. iNOS, COX-2, prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and interleukin-1 (IL-1) levels were determined using RT-PCR, Western blot and ELISA assays.

Results

We report that combination of PEITC + SFN or CUR + SFN has a synergistic effect in down-regulating inflammation markers like TNF, IL-1, NO, PGE2. The synergism is probably due to the synergistic induction of phase II/antioxidant enzymes including heme-oxygenase1 (HO-1) and NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO-1).

Conclusions

Our data suggest that CUR + SFN and PEITC + SFN combinations could be more effective than used alone in preventing inflammation and possibly its associated diseases including cancer.

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Acknowledgement

We thank all the members in Dr. Tony Kong’s lab for their helpful discussion and preparation of this manuscript. This work was supported in part by National Institute of Health Grant R01 CA-073674–07.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate Program in Pharmaceutical Science, Department of Pharmaceutics, Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA

    Ka Lung Cheung

  2. Department of Pharmaceutics, Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 160 Frelinghuysen Road, Piscataway, New Jersey, 08854, USA

    Tin Oo Khor & Ah-Ng Kong

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  1. Ka Lung Cheung
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  2. Tin Oo Khor
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Correspondence to Ah-Ng Kong.

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Cheung, K.L., Khor, T.O. & Kong, AN. Synergistic Effect of Combination of Phenethyl Isothiocyanate and Sulforaphane or Curcumin and Sulforaphane in the Inhibition of Inflammation. Pharm Res 26, 224–231 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11095-008-9734-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11095-008-9734-9

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