The effect of dietary administered young barley containing a mixture of phytochemicals to female rats for the prevention of N-methyl-N-nitrosourea-induced mammary carcinogenesis was evaluated. After carcinogen administration (14 wk), mammary tumors were removed and prepared for histopathological and immunohistochemical analysis. Moreover, in vitro evaluation of possible mechanisms in MCF-7 breast cancer cell line was performed. Barley (0.3%) demonstrated mild antitumor effect in mammary carcinogenesis, yet 3% barley did not further improve this effect. Immunohistochemical analysis of rat tumor cells in treated groups showed significant increase in caspase-3 expression and significant reduction in Ki67 expression. In addition, 3% barley significantly decreased dityrosine levels versus control. Barley in higher dose significantly decreased serum low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol in rats. In vitro studies showed that barley significantly decreased survival of MCF-7 cells in 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay and significantly decreased 5-bromo-20-deoxyuridine incorporation versus control. Barley prevented cell cycle progression and extended incubation with barley showed significant increase in the percentage of annexin V/propidium iodide-positive MCF-7 cells. Our results propose an antitumor effect for the mixture of phytochemicals present in young barley in a breast cancer model.

b Department of Pharmacology Faculty of Medicine P J Šafárik University Košice Slovakia

c Department of Pathology Slovak Medical University and St Elisabeth Oncology Institute Bratislava

Department of Medical Biology Jessenius Faculty of Medicine Comenius University in Bratislava Martin Slovakia

e Department of Anatomy Jessenius Faculty of Medicine Comenius University in Bratislava Martin Slovakia

f Department of Natural Drugs Department of Molecular Biology and Pharmaceutical Biotechnology Faculty of Pharmacy University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno Czech Republic

g Department of Quality of Agricultural Products Faculty of Agrobiology Food and Natural Resources Czech University of Life Sciences Prague Prague Czech Republic

h Institute of Experimental Botany AS CR v v i Prague Czech Republic

i The Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention and Management College of Health and Biomedicine Victoria University Melbourne Victoria Australia

j Department of Medical Biochemistry Jessenius Faculty of Medicine Comenius University in Bratislava Martin Slovakia

k Department of Histology and Embryology Jessenius Faculty of Medicine Comenius University in Bratislava Martin Slovakia

l Department of Veterans Affairs Washington DC USA

Laboratory of Structural Biology and Proteomics Central Laboratories Faculty of Pharmacy University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno Czech Republic

References provided by Crossref.org

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