The Anticarcinogenic Effect of the Apple Polyphenol Phloretin in an Experimental Rat Model of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

摘要

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide, probably because of late diagnosis and lack of treatment. There is a great need to discover a novel compound to improve the general prognosis of HCC. Phloretin (Ph) is an apple polyphenol that is effective in treating pathogenic conditions having oxidative stress as a commonmechanism. This study evaluated the anticancer property of Ph. Comparison of the Ph group with the HCC group indicated that Ph supplementation helped improve serum biomarkers of liver cancer, liver functions and oxidative status and enhance histological and morphological appearance and gene expression. Our results clearly demonstrated that Ph supplementation induced an apparent chemopreventive effect against diethylnitrosamine-induced HCC, as manifested by a significant modulation of serum biomarkers of liver cancer, liver functions, oxidative status, along with restraining histological appearance and gene expression.