Cinnamomum verum is used to make the spice cinnamon and has been used for more than 5000 years by both of the two most ancient forms of medicine in the words: Ayurveda and traditional Chinese
herbal medicines for various applications such as
adenopathy,
rheumatism,
dermatosis,
dyspepsia,
stroke,
tumors,
elephantiasis, trichomonas, yeast, and
virus infections. We evaluated the anticancer effect of
cuminaldehyde (CuA), a constituent of the bark of the plant, and its underlying molecular
biomarkers associated with
carcinogenesis in human
lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells. The results show that
cuminaldehyde suppressed proliferation and induced apoptosis as indicated by mitochondrial membrane potential loss, activation of
caspase 3 and 9, increase in
annexin V+PI+ cells, and morphological characteristics of apoptosis, including blebbing of plasma membrane, nuclear condensation, fragmentation, apoptotic body formation, and comet with elevated tail intensity and moment. In addition,
cuminaldehyde also induced lysosomal vacuolation with increased volume of acidic compartments (VAC), suppressions of both
topoisomerase I & II as well as
telomerase activities in a dose-dependent manner. Further study reveals the growth-inhibitory effect of
cuminaldehyde was also evident in a nude mice model. Taken together, the data suggest that the growth-inhibitory effect of
cuminaldehyde against A549 cells is accompanied by downregulations of proliferative control involving apoptosis, both
topoisomerase I & II as well as
telomerase activities, together with an upregulation of lysosomal vacuolation and VAC. Similar effects (including all of the above-mentioned effects) were found in other cell lines, including human lung
squamous cell carcinoma NCI-H520 and colorectal
adenocarcinoma COLO 205 (results not shown). Our data suggest that
cuminaldehyde could be a potential agent for anticancer
therapy.