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Silymarin downregulates COX-2 expression and attenuates hyperlipidemia during NDEA-induced rat hepatocellular
Gopalakrishnan Ramakrishnan1, Carmen Martha Elinos-Báez, Sundaram Jagan
1Department of Biochemistry, University of Madras, Guindy campus, Chennai 600025, Tamilnadu, India.
Abstract:
Silymarin is a naturally available bioflavonoid and is a strong antioxidant with a capacity to inhibit the formation of tumors in several cancer models. In the present study, we investigated whether dietary supplementation of silymarin has any role in lipid components, lipid-metabolizing enzymes, free fatty acid profile, and expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) in N-nitrosodiethylamine (NDEA)-induced hepatocellular carcinoma in rats. NDEA-induced rats showed severe hyperlipidemia along with upregulated expression of COX-2 as revealed by western blotting and immunohistochemistry. Dietary silymarin supplementation attenuated this hyperlipidemia and downregulated the expression of COX-2. Thus we conclude that compounds like silymarin with potent hypolipidemic effect are strong candidates as chemopreventive agents for the treatment of liver cancer.
