Protective Effect of Solanum muricatum on Tumor Metastasis by Regulating Inflammatory Mediators and Nuclear Factor-Kappa B Subunits.

Metastasis is one of the hallmarks of malignant neoplasm or cancer, which is the leading cause of death in many cancer patients. A major challenge in cancer treatment is to find better ways to specifically target tumor metastases. In this study, the anti-metastatic potential of the methanol extract of Solanum muricatum (S. muricatum) was evaluated using B16F-10 melanoma cell-induced lung metastasis in C57BL/6 mice. Treatment with S. muricatum significantly inhibited the lung tumor nodule formation and reduced the lung collagen hydroxyproline, hexosamine, and uronic acid levels (p<0.01). Similarly, serum sialic acid and γ-glutamyl transpeptidase levels were also significantly inhibited after S. muricatum treatment. The levels of proinflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, granulocyte monocyte colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), and IL-2 in serum were significantly regulated after treatment with S. muricatum. The serum nitric oxide level was also decreased significantly and was accompanied by a decrease in inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclo- oxygenase (COX)-2 expressions after S. muricatum treatment. The present study reveals that S. muricatum treatment was able to alter the proinflammatory cytokine production as well as inhibit the activation and nuclear translocation of nuclear factor-κB (p65 and p50) subunits.