Analysis of bioactive components in Ghost chili (<i>Capsicum chinense</i>) for antioxidant, genotoxic, and apoptotic effects in mice

Apart from using traditionally in culinary preparations, chili peppers are also important constituents of herbal medicines. Although the bioactive components are studied mostly in the fruits of <i>Capsicum annuum</i>, no such study reports till date is available for Ghost chili (<i>C. chinense</i>) from North East India. Therefore, the aim of this study was to carry out an analysis of the bioactive constituents in the naturally occurring hottest chili Ghost chili (<i>C. chinense</i>), and evaluate its antioxidant, pro/anti-genotoxic, and apoptotic effects in <i>in vitro</i> and <i>in vivo</i> models. Three different antioxidant assays showed that lower doses of Ghost chili extract showed higher DNA protective and antioxidant activities. Furthermore, the administration for 7 alternate days into 6 week old Swiss albino mice showed that the lower doses (50 and 100 mg/kg bw) reduced DMBA induced genotoxicity beside significantly enhancing the activities of hepatic antioxidant enzymes, while higher dose (200 mg/kg bw) induced genotoxic effect in bone marrow cells. The administration of higher dose (200 mg/kg bw) also induced apoptosis and upregulation of <i>Bax</i> (pro) and downregulation of <i>Bcl-2</i> (anti) apoptotic genes. Dose dependent increase of apoptosis was also observed in Hep G2 and Hep 3B liver cancer cell lines. Our findings in the present study suggest that low doses of <i>C. chinense</i> can exert cancer chemopreventive effects. The induction of apoptosis in both cancer cell lines and mouse bone marrow cells, and up-regulation of proapoptotic genes suggests that the higher dose of <i>C. chinense</i> can be used for targeted cancer therapy.

辣椒除传统应用于烹饪料理外，亦是草药的重要组成成分。尽管目前针对辣椒（*Capsicum annuum*）果实中的生物活性成分已有较多研究，但截至目前，尚无关于印度东北部产鬼椒（*C. chinense*）的同类研究报道。因此，本研究旨在对天然存在的最辣辣椒——鬼椒（*C. chinense*）中的生物活性成分进行分析，并评估其在体外（*in vitro*）与体内（*in vivo*）模型中的抗氧化、促/抗遗传毒性及细胞凋亡活性。三项不同的抗氧化实验结果显示，较低剂量的鬼椒提取物展现出更强的DNA保护与抗氧化活性。此外，对6周龄瑞士白化小鼠连续7次隔日给药的实验结果表明，较低剂量（50与100 mg/kg体重（bw））可减轻7,12-二甲基苯并蒽（DMBA）诱导的遗传毒性，同时显著提升肝脏抗氧化酶活性；而较高剂量（200 mg/kg体重（bw））则会在骨髓细胞中诱发遗传毒性效应。高剂量（200 mg/kg体重（bw））给药还可诱导细胞凋亡，并上调促凋亡基因*Bax*的表达、下调抗凋亡基因*Bcl-2*的表达。在Hep G2与Hep 3B肝癌细胞系中同样观察到凋亡率呈剂量依赖性升高。本研究结果表明，低剂量的*C. chinense*可发挥癌症化学预防作用。在癌细胞系与小鼠骨髓细胞中诱导凋亡，以及促凋亡基因的上调，表明高剂量的*C. chinense*可用于靶向癌症治疗。

搜集汇总

背景与挑战

背景概述

该数据集聚焦于印度东北部Ghost chili（Capsicum chinense）的生物活性成分分析，研究其抗氧化、基因毒性和凋亡效应。实验结果表明，低剂量提取物具有DNA保护和抗氧化作用，可能发挥癌症化学预防效果；而高剂量则诱导基因毒性和凋亡，并调控相关基因表达，提示潜在靶向癌症治疗应用。数据集发布于2018年，涵盖体外和体内模型数据，涉及医学、药理学等多个学科领域。