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Background: Cancer is a multistep process that develops very rapidly after its onset. Previous studies have confirmed antitumor effects of curcumin (1,7-bis (4-hydroxy-3- methoxyphenyl)-1,6-heptadiene-3,5-dione; diferuloylmethane) that can potentially prevent colon cancer development with low side-effects. Different methods have been performed to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of curcumin among which dendrosome, a nanoparticle created by Sarbolouki et al. was used in this study. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the effects of dendrosomal curcumin on rat colon cancer. Methods: In this study which was performed in Cancer Research Center of Tehran University of Medical Sciences in 2010 year, forty rats were equally divided into control, curcumin and curcumin-dendrosome groups. Animals received azoxymethane (15 mg/kg s.c.), a carcinogen, once a week for two weeks. Curcumin (0.2%) and curcumin-dendrosome were administered to the respective animals 2 weeks before the first and 14 weeks after the last azoxymethane injections. Eventually, colorectal specimens from tumoral and adjacent non-tumoral mucosal tissues were fixed in 10% formaldehyde, and passaged and embedded in paraffin. Histopathological and immunohistochemical studies were performed on the specimens. Results: The mean number of lesions, nuclear/cytoplasmic ratio, epithelial stratification, loss of nuclear polarity, goblet depletion, structural abnormality and betacatenin expression were higher in the control group compared to curcumin and curcumin-dendrosome groups. These parameters had significantly decreased in the dendrosomal curcumin group (P<0.05). Conclusion: The present study shows that dendrosome can be used as a suitable nanoparticle to increase curcumin efficiency in the prevention or treatment of colon cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Curcumin, the active ingredient of turmeric, has the ability to inhibit the carcinogenic pathways, and thus can prevent or postpone the carcinogenic process in different animal species. Retention time of curcumin is short due to the quick excretion of the body, so, the therapeutic effects of curcumin are restricted resulting in short-term retention in the plasma. Therefore, several methods are used for increasing the efficiency of curcumin in plasma and tissues. The present study is designed to evaluate the effects of the anti-proliferative and anti-carcinogenic of nano-curcumin in rat colon cancer. Methods: In this study which was performed in Cancer Research Center of Tehran University of Medical Sciences in 2012. Thirty rats have divided into control, curcumin and nano-curcumin groups. All animals received azoxymethane (15 mg/kg, s.c) as a carcinogen, once a week for two consecutive weeks. Animals received curcumin 0.2% and nano-curcumin 2 weeks before azoxymethane injection up to 14 weeks after the last injection of azoxymethane in curcumin and nano-curcumin groups, respectively. At the end of experiment, the colorectal specimens from all mucosal lesions were obtained for histo-and-immunohistochemical (Ki-67 and COX-2) studies. Results: The cytological and morphological changes of the cells in nano-curcumin group were significantly lower compared to other groups (P<0.05). In addition, the Ki- 67 and COX-2 proteins expression was lower in the nano-curcumin group in compareson with the curcumin and control groups (P<0.05). Conclusion: The results indicate that the using a suitable nanoparticle can be appropriately resolved the low bioavailability of curcumin. This can be an important method to use of natural products in the prevention and/or treatment of cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]