Myrtenal is a novel class of compound belongs to
monoterpenes found predominantly in mint, pepper, etc., and it was shown to have excellent pharmacological activities against many diseases among which
cancer is imperative.
Hepatocellular carcinoma is a primary
malignancy of the hepatocytes, which rapidly leads to death in short periods. The aim of this study was to investigate the possible therapeutic efficiency of
myrtenal against
diethylnitrosamine-induced experimental hepatocarcinogenesis by analyzing the key
enzymes of carbohydrate metabolism, lysosomal and mitochondrial TCA cycle
enzymes, and also the possible role of
tumor suppressor protein p53, and scanning electron microscopic studies. The results revealed that
myrtenal significantly ameliorated the altered
enzymes of carbohydrate metabolism, lysosomal and mitochondrial
enzymes, and interestingly the
tumor suppressor protein p53 was found to be significantly accumulated in
myrtenal-treated animals, which inevitably confirms that
myrtenal has a prominent role in preventing the
liver cancer during treatment. Furthermore, the
antineoplastic property was well evidenced by the
mRNA expression of p53
protein by the
reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction and immunoblot analysis. The observed anticancer property of
myrtenal may be due to the involvement and expression of p53 and influence in the mitochondrial and lysosomal membrane integrity and also interference in the gluconeogenesis process of
cancer cells. Our results suggest that
myrtenal is very efficient and useful compound in the treatment of
liver cancer in future.