Exploration of Molecular Machinery Affected by Cerium Oxide Nanoparticles in Benzene Induced Leukemia

Abstract

Cancer is considered as one of the most lethal diseases despite the advancement in therapeutics. Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) occurs when there is massive expansion of abnormally differentiated immahlre white blood cells that occasionally spread to other body parts. Nanoparticles are being used for therapeutic purpose successfully by serving as a vehicle for targeted drug delivery. Doxorubicin is a known anticancer drug with cytotoxic side effects thus limiting its clinical applications. We designed a study to identify the anticancer potential of cerium oxide (Ce02) nanoparticles coupled with doxorubicin. Properties of drug loaded nanoparticles were identified by XRD (X-Ray Diffraction) and FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy). Rats were divided into five experimental groups and leukemia was induced by giving intra peritoneal injections of benzene. After different treatments for 24 alternate days, rats were sacrificed and blood samples were collected along with different organs for further analysis. Interestingly, hematological assays showed powerful anti-cancerous activity of cerium oxide. The nanoparticles reduced back the size and subsequent weight of hypertrophic liver, kidney and heart near to the normal. The number of apoptotic cells in each group was characterized by Annexin V assay. The nanoparticles treated group showed reduced levels of ALP, AST and ALT. qRT-PCR was performed to check the expression of selected genes of TRAIL pathway, NF kappa B pathway, p53 and STMNI. The expression of p53 was found to be down regulated in treated groups. The expression of caspases was found to be up regulated in nanopal1icles treated group. To summarize, cerium oxide nanoparticles showed good anti-leukemic activity in vivo. Further studies should be carried out to authentic the role of cerium oxide and develop it as a potential therapeutic drug. Key Words: Acute Myeloid Leukemia, Cerium oxide nanoparticles, Doxorubicin, Nanomedicine