ACE2-Inhibitory Effects of Bromelain and Ficin in Colon Cancer Cells

<i<Background and Objectives</i<: Bromelain and ficin are aqueous extracts from fruits of <i<Ananas comosus</i< and <i<Ficus carcia</i< plants, used widely for medical applications. Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is a homolog of ACE, degrading Ang II to an...
Ausführliche Beschreibung

<i<Background and Objectives</i<: Bromelain and ficin are aqueous extracts from fruits of <i<Ananas comosus</i< and <i<Ficus carcia</i< plants, used widely for medical applications. Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is a homolog of ACE, degrading Ang II to angiotensin 1-7 and decreasing the cellular concentration of Ang II. <i<Materials and Methods</i<: In this study, we investigated the ACE2-inhibitory, antiproliferative, and apoptosis-inducing effects of ficin and bromelain on caco-2 cells. <i<Results</i<: We found that bromelain and ficin significantly reduced the viability of human colon cancer cells with IC<sub<50</sub< value concentrations of 8.8 and 4.2 mg/mL for bromelain after 24 and 48 h treatments, and 8.8 and 4.2 mg/mL for ficin after 24 and 48 h treatments, respectively. The apoptosis of the caco-2 cell line treated with bromelain was 81.04% and 56.70%, observed after 24 and 48 h. Total apoptotic proportions in caco-2 cells treated with ficin after 24 and 48 h were 83.7% and 73.0%. An amount of 1.6 mg/mL of bromelain and ficin treatments on caco-2 cells after 24 h revealed a higher decrease than that of other concentrations in the expression of ACE2 protein. <i<Conclusions</i<: In conclusion, bromelain and ficin can dose-dependently decrease the expression of ACE2 protein in caco-2 cells. Ausführliche Beschreibung