@article{article_1524052, title={The cytotoxic effects of bio-transformed propolis on healthy and colon cancer cell lines}, journal={Ege Tıp Dergisi}, volume={64}, pages={77–91}, year={2025}, DOI={10.19161/etd.1524052}, url={https://izlik.org/JA62BN53RX}, author={Selvi Günel, Nur and Oktay Çelebi, Latife Merve and Memmedov, Hikmet and Durmaz, Burak and Kalkan Yıldırım, Hatice and Yıldırım Sözmen, Eser}, keywords={colon cancer, propolis, biotransformation, cytotoxicity, polyphenol}, abstract={Aim: Propolis has a lot of properties related to human health: antioxidant, antimicrobial, antiseptic, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antimutagenic, and immunomodulating. Its possible effects on different cancers are among the priorities of these properties. In this study, the comparative cytotoxic effects of bio-transformed propolis samples on colon cancer cells and healthy colon epithelium cells were investigated.
Materials and Methods: Lactobacillus plantarum strains used in this study are based on their well-documented ability to metabolize phenolic compounds during fermentation, effectively modifying their structure and activity. These strains exhibit cinnamoyl esterase activity, which is critical for reducing allergenic compounds such as DMEA and CAPE in propolis. Additionally, L. plantarum is widely utilized in biotransformation processes due to its safety, adaptability, and efficiency in enhancing the bioactive properties of natural products, making it an ideal candidate for optimizing the cytotoxic potential of propolis against colon cancer cells.
Results: The highest reduction was determined for ferulic acid, and the lowest reduction was obtained by using ethanol as a solvent using ultrasound treatments in the presence of water at optimal conditions (300 W/40 kHz). It was found that propolis samples showed dose-dependent cytotoxic effects on the colon cancer cell line (HCT-116) and healthy colon epithelium cell line (CCD-841 CoN) at 24, 48, and 72 hours.
Conclusion: Our results show that the method of propolis extraction, and the type of biotransformation reaction are very important in terms of effect on the cytotoxicity of colon cancer cells. Consequently, in this study, the demonstration of the bio-transformed propolis to have the ability to destroy cancerous cells without causing severe damage to healthy cells reveals that it can have the potential that can be used in cancer treatment.}, number={1}