• Vichununt Kerdput, Kritsakorn Kanjanapongkul, Arunporn Itharat, Ratchadaporn Pramong, Wouter H Lamers, Theodorus B M Hakvoort, Aldo Jongejan, and Wisuit Pradidarcheep.
• Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Srinakharinwirot University, Bangkok 10110, Thailand.
• Int J Med Sci. 2022 Jan 1; 19 (12): 1806-1815.

AbstractHepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a primary liver cancer commonly found in adults. Previously, we showed the anticancer effects of Thai herbal plant extract, Dioscorea membranacea Pierre (DM), in HCC-bearing rats. In the present study, we further examined the proposed mechanism of DM, including apoptosis and antioxidant activity. Moreover, we used RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) to analyze molecular pathways in the rat model in which HCC was induced by diethylnitrosamine (DEN) and thioacetamide (TAA). The HCC-bearing rats were then treated with 40 mg/kg of DM for 8 weeks, after which experimental and control rats were sacrificed and liver tissues were collected. The RNA-seq data of DEN/TAA-treated rats exhibited upregulation of 16 hallmark pathways, including epithelial mesenchymal transition, inflammatory responses, and angiogenesis (p<0.01). DM extract expanded the Bax protein-positive pericentral zone in the tumor areas and decreased hepatic malondialdehyde levels, implying a decrease in lipid peroxidation in liver. However, DM treatment did not ameliorate the molecular pathways induced in DEN/TAA-treated livers. Our findings indicate that DM extract has antioxidant activity and exerts its pro-apoptotic effect on rat HCCs in vivo at the (post-)translational level.© The author(s).

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