Combination of probiotics and resveratrol to target drug resistance in breast cancer: an in vitro and in vivo study

To evaluate new anticancer combination to target drug resistance in breast cancer Probiotics have significant activity in the immune system by the activation of multiple immune mechanisms. Resveratrol is a non-flavonoid polyphenol. It has various pharmacological effects, including anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory, anti-proliferative, and anti-angiogenesis. The present study investigates the potential immunomodulatory and antitumor activity of the combination treatment of probiotics and resveratrol in sensitive and cisplatin resistant breast cancer. In the in vivo part, tumor-bearing mice received one of the following treatments: 2.5*108 CFU/ml probiotics, 50mg/kg resveratrol, the combination of probiotics and resveratrol, vehicle, or cisplatin. Balb/C mice were inoculated with sensitive EMT6/P & cisplatin resistance EMT6/CPR cancer cell lines and in vivo antitumor activity was evaluated. The antiproliferative activity of the probiotics, resveratrol, and their combination treatments was assessed using MTT assay to evaluate lymphocyte proliferation activity. LDH colorimetric assay was conducted to measure the effectiveness of the treatments on Natural killer cells activity. Nitro blue tetrazolium assay and neutral red method have been used to evaluate macrophage function. The combination treatment showed enhancement effect in splenic lymphocytes proliferation, macrophage function, phagocytosis, and pinocytosis in both cell lines. It was shown that a significant reduction in tumor size and weight in EMT6/P and EMT6/CPR bearing mice occurred. The combination treatment of probiotics and resveratrol had a valuable activity against sensitive and cisplatin resistant breast cancer cells and may act as a stimulator of the immune system. Therefore, the combination of probiotics and resveratrol deserves further analysis to be used in cancer prevention and treatment. Further studies are needed to fully understand the mechanisms of action of this combination