Effect of Manuka Honey on the Proliferation of Human Breast Cancer Cells - Term Paper Example

Effect of Manuka Honey on the Proliferation of Human Breast Cancer Cells Table of Contents Results Discussion Conclusion References Results On the T-test As mentioned, the T-test was used to ascertain how effective the Manuka honey was in the inhibition of the progression of the cancer cells of the breast. The findings are that increasing the concentration of the honey corresponded with the increase in the rate at which the breast cancer cells died, resulting correspondingly with the decrease in the amount of cancer cells that continued to proliferate after the exposure to the honey. The T-test on the other hand was employed to effect the comparison between the variables of honey concentration versus control. The gist of the t-test is that we want to know whether or not the differences between control and honey concentration. We find for instance from the plot that the control absorbance was constant, while the absorbance varied across varying honey concentrations. We find that the differences in values between the control and the honey concentrations to be large and significant (McDonald 2014). Discussion The results show no ambiguity with regard to the inhibitory effect of manuka honey on breast cancer cells, with the data showing in very clear terms how increasing the dose of manuka honey corresponded with a proportional increase in the death of cancer cells, or the corresponding decrease in the viability of the cancer cells as measured in absorbance values. In the control, the absorbance values were constant, whereas at the 50 percent concentration, close to 95 percent of the cancer cells became non-viable, as evidenced by the very low absorbance value in the plots. The data also is clear in showing that as the concentration of the manuka honey decreased, the viability of the cancer cells increased, as evidenced by the increasing values of absorbance as the manuka honey concentrations decreased. Visually one can see this inverse relationship, showing that increasing concentrations of manuka honey corresponded with decreasing values for absorbance, and at the highest concentration of 50 percent honey, one can see a corresponding maximum inhibition of absorbance, which is also to say that at this value more than 95 percent of the cancer cells become non-viable. At the other end, on the other hand, and consistent with an inverse correlation between manuka honey concentration and absorbance, a very low concentration of the honey translates to the highest level of absorbance for all setups where manuka is present. Yet even at this lowest concentration, one can also see that there is some inhibition of absorbance in comparison to control, and the t-test shows us that this difference in values between the absorbance with manuka honey and control is statistically significant. One can say therefore from the data that the experiment establishes the positive correlation between manuka honey concentration and the extent of inhibition of proliferation of cancer cells of the breast in the samples (McDonald 2014). Moreover, the LD50 value for the manuka honey concentration occurs at a very low concentration value indeed, as seen in the plots, at just a concentration of 0.048 percent. At this concentration, as LD50 connotes, half of the population of target specimens or in this case cancer cells of the breast are dead or non-viable. In this sense one can see that the potency of manuka honey is very strong indeed, and at concentrations of 50 percent, all but less than five percent of the cancer cells become non-viable. The low concentration to achieve LD50 moreover has implications for the kinds of dosing requirements that may come into play when coming up with treatment strategies for breast cancer making use of manuka honey as the primary substance for effecting treatment. To be more specific, a sustained treatment protocol that makes use of 50 percent manuka honey over a period of time is expected to be very potent, but concentrations that are even just a fraction of that should also be effective at halving the viability of cancer cells of the breast, and has implications for dosing and expected response of patients to manuka treatments at even very tiny amounts of the substance as part of a treatment protocol for the cancer (Environmental Protection Agency 2012). Contextualizing the results with findings from the scientific and academic literature,we find corroboration that indeed,manuka honey has powerful effects on cancer, and in this specific case, in the inhibition of the proliferation of breast cancer cells by even small concentrations of honey introduced into the cancer cells. The earliy part of this paper surveyed part of the body of literature confirming the efficacy of manuka honey in acting against different kinds of cancerous conditions, and the discussion here unearths many more relevant studies that tie up with the results of the current experiment. Onestudy for instance corroborates the findings of this current experiment with regard to the action of manuka honey on breast cancer, together with two other forms of cancer in a form of melanoma known as murine melanoma as well as cancer of the colorectal region. Thefindings of this latter study include reductions in tumor growth of up to a third in conjunction with the use of chemotherapy, introducing a way by which futurre experiments can further investigate the use of manuka honey to amleriorate the negative effects on health of chemotherapy when used as therapy for these kinds of cancer (Fernandez-Cabezudo et al. 2013). Elsewhere too in the literature we find corroboration of the inverse relationship between honey concentration and the viability of breast cancer cells in another metastudy that concludes that indeed, there is an inverse relationship between cancer and honey in general. To put another way, the presence of honey in an organism is associated with the corresponding lack of cancer in the organism, and the higher the concentration of honey, the lower the concentration and likelihood of the occurrence of cancer (Othman 2012). The literature in general also makes sweeping claims in the scientific literature for the efficacy of manuka honey in the mitigation of the proliferation of various kinds of cancer cells and not just breast cancer cells. The use of manuka honey in various forms of cancer, and the impressive results that have been validated in the literature as well as in meta studies or studies that survey the results of other studies on honey and cancer, seem to provide a strong scientific body of work and precedent that backs up the findings in this current study. Moreover, looking at these sampling of the literature mentioned above, one can see that breast cancer is specifically mentioned as being highly susceptible to the action of manuka honey and its active cancer-fighting compounds. Given this body of research, one can say that the present experiment is an initial corroboration of what the literature already says is true. Stated another way, had the results of this experiment been otherwise, one can doubt the efficacy of the methods used, rather than the findings in the literature of manuka honey’s proven abilities to combat the proliferation of cancer (Ahmed and Othman 2013; Abd Kadir et al. 2013; Erejuwa et al. 2014). Looking at more focused data on manuka honey and the action and mechanisms of effect of its active compounds against breast cancer cells, the literature tells us that one mechanism of action of the honey is in the inducement of apoptosis or cancer cell death in experimental models. This corresponds to the reduction in the absorbance values measured for increasing concentrations of manuka honey. Cell death is at 50 percent moreover for very low concentrations of manuka honey in the present experiment, and in the literature we come to understand absorbance in terms of apoptosis, as the scientific literature notes (Abd Kadir et al. 2013, p. 2252). Inducing cell death by apoptosis again figures as one of the possible ways by which manuka honey is hypothesized to work against various forms of cancer, including breast cancer, though in this latter scientific paper apoptosis is just one of several possible means of action. The others include actions on the pathways of the cell mitochondria, the mitigation of inflammatory responses, and several other mechanisms of action. Again, regardless of the underlying mechanisms, the present experiment does demonstrate in empirical terms how the presence of manuka honey in varying concentrations bring about the termination of the viability of large percentages of the cancerous cells. The literature adds to this that manuka honey has been shown to be highly toxic to cancer cells but not at all toxic to non-cancerous, healthy cells, suggesting targeted action on cancer cells while leaving healthy cells untouched. Again, where the scientific literature details the specific mechanisms of action of manuka honey on breast cancer cells, the present study/experiment provides empirical proof that indeed, manuka honey is toxic to cancer cells of the breast, to the extent of cancer cells becoming totally non-viable for the most part as the concentrations of manuka honey are elevated (Erejuwa et al. 2014). Elsewhere again in the literature we find further corroboration of the significant toxic action of manuka honey on breast cancer cells, in references that have been leveraged to measure the performance of other types of honey against breast cancer and other cancer cells. In other words, not only is the action of manuka honey against breast cancer cells established, but also that such action has been deemed as a kind of gold standard against which the actions of other types of honey on breast and other cancers are measured (Spilioti et al. 2014). Still elsewhere in the literature, the action of manuka honey and its active ingredients against breast cancer cells MCF-7 via inducing cell death or apoptosis is further defined in terms of the reduction in the expression of essential cancer cell components, leading to the fragmenting of the very DNA of the cancer cell, leading to its eventual death by apoptosis as already mentioned in other sources. One gets a consistent take, based on all of these mentioned studies, of the efficacy of manuka honey in killing breast cancer cells, something that is validated empirically in the present study and shown in the results to be true (Patel and Cichello 2013, p. 125). The present experiment also shows that the efficacy of manuka honey is dependent both on the concentration of the honey and the time of exposure of the sample to the honey, with the greater time exposure and the greater dose associated with the larger rate of cell death observed. In all cases, where the time of exposure has been maximized, the rate of cell death has been empirically established to be dependent on the concentration, so that the greatest rate of cell death as measured by the absorbance is greatest at the greatest manuka honey concentration of 50 percent. Indeed, the literature confirms that the action of manuka honey on breast cancer cells is dependent both on time and on the dose, so that increasing time and dose exposures of cancer cells to the honey results in greater rates of cell apoptosis for the breast cancer cells. Tying the results of this present experiment with the findings established in the literature, there is consistency in the established knowledge in the scientific literature on how the action of manuka honey depends on length of exposure and the concentration of the honey on the one hand and the empirical results derived in the present experiment. This consistency in results bodes well for the effectiveness and validity of the methods used in the present experiment. In other words, as in the other cited sources the findings in the literature bolster the findings of this present experiment with regard to the soundness of the methods used and the empirical data gathered consequently. One can therefore say with some degree of confidence that the results of the experiment and the results of the analysis, as well as the methods used in the present experiment, are validated by their consistency with the findings and insights from the existing scientific and academic literature on the action of manuka honey against breast cancer cells and their proliferation (Alvarez-Suarez et al. 2014). Conclusion Based on the empirical data and the ensuing analysis, it is clear that manuka honey inhibits the proliferation of human breast cancer cells in a way that is dependent on the concentration of the honey as well as the time of exposure of the cancer cells to the honey. The greater the concentration, given the same time of exposure for different concentrations, the greater the inhibitory effect as measured in terms of absorbance values. The lower the absorbance value, the higher the inhibitory effect, and the lowest absorbance value was observed for the highest manuka concentration used, which is 50 percent. That said, LD50 was observed at extremely low concentrations of manuka honey as well, indicating the high level of potency of manuka honey against human breast cancer cells. These findings confirm the established knowledge in the literature on the action of manuka honey and its active ingredients against breast cancer cells. Moving forward, a key recommendation for next steps would be for the setting up of more rigorous experiments that refine the methods used here, and make use of larger sample sizes and iterations, in order to come up with more accurate data on the dose dependence of breast cancer cells to manuka honey (Alvarez-Suarez et al. 2014; Spilioti et al. 2014). 1 References Abd Kadir, E. (2013). Inhibitory Effects of Tualang Honey on Experimental Breast Cancer in Rats: A Preliminary Study.. Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 14. [online]. Available at: http://ocean.kisti.re.kr/downfile/volume/apocp/POCPA9/2013/v14n4/POCPA9_2013_v14n4_2249.pdf [accessed 2/5/2015]. Ahmed, S. and Othman, N. (2013). Review of Medicinal Effects of Tualang Honey and a Comparison with Manuka Honey. The Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences. [online]. Available at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3743976/ [accessed 2/5/2015]. Alvarez-Suarez, J. et al. (2014). 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Handbook of Biological Statistics. [online]. Available at: http://www.biostathandbook.com/twosamplettest.html [accessed 2/5/2015]. Othman, N. (2012). Honey and Cancer: Sustainable Inverse Relationship Particularly in Developing Nations - A Review. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. [online]. Available at: http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ecam/2012/410406/ [accessed 2/5/2015]. Patel, S. and Cichello, S. (2013). Manuka honey: an emerging natural food with medicinal use. Nat Prod. Bioprospect. 3. [online]. Available at: http://download.springer.com/static/pdf/877/art%253A10.1007%252Fs13659-013-0018-7.pdf?auth66=1423324691_a3860947931c167a635a92487c4fd983&ext=.pdf [accessed 2/5/2015]. Spilioti, E. et al. (2014). Phenolic Acid Composition, Antiatherogenic and Anticancer Potential of Honeys Derived from Various Regions of Greece. PLOS One. [online]. Available at: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0094860#pone-0094860-g003 [accessed 2/5/2015]. Read More