Mechanism of Chemoprevention against Colon Cancer Cells Using Combined Gelam Honey and Ginger Extract via mTOR and Wnt/β-catenin Pathways

The PI3K-Akt-mTOR, Wnt/β-catenin and apoptosis signaling pathways have been shown to be involvedin genesis of colorectal cancer (CRC) . The aim of this study was to elucidate whether combination of Gelamhoney and ginger might have chemopreventive properties in HT29 colon cancer cells by modulating the mTOR,Wnt/β-catenin and apoptosis signaling pathways. Treatment with Gelam honey and ginger reduced the viabilityof the HT29 cells dose dependently with IC50 values of 88 mg/ml and 2.15 mg/ml respectively, their while thecombined treatment of 2 mg/ml of ginger with 31 mg/ml of Gelam honey inhibited growth of most HT29 cells.Gelam honey, ginger and combination induced apoptosis in a dose dependent manner with the combinedtreatment exhibiting the highest apoptosis rate. The combined treatment downregulated the gene expressions ofAkt, mTOR, Raptor, Rictor, β-catenin, Gsk3β, Tcf4 and cyclin D1 while cytochrome C and caspase 3 genes wereshown to be upregulated. In conclusion, the combination of Gelam honey and ginger may serve as a potentialtherapy in the treatment of colorectal cancer through inhibiton of mTOR, Wnt/β catenin signaling pathwaysand induction of apoptosis pathway.