Carbidopa in the treatment of cancer
In experiments on a mouse model and human cells, researchers at Texas Tech University, working under the guidance of Dr. Yangzom Bhutia, demonstrated the antitumor effects of carbidopa, a drug used in the therapy of Parkinson's disease.
Parkinson's disease is a widespread age-related neurodegenerative disease, manifested by symptoms such as tremor, muscle rigidity and difficulty walking. These manifestations are the result of a decrease in the production of the neurotransmitter dopamine, a chemical compound that provides the transmission of behavioral signals from the brain to the body.
To date, this disease is incurable, but there are a number of therapeutic approaches that reduce the severity of symptoms of Parkinson's disease. The use of dopamine itself as a drug is impossible, since it is not able to cross the blood-brain barrier. However, one of its precursors – levodopa – successfully penetrates into the brain tissue, where it is converted into dopamine.
Levodopa has been used for a very long time to relieve the symptoms of Parkinson's disease, however, when used individually, this drug can cause side effects such as nausea. This is due to the fact that only 5-10% of levodopa penetrates the blood-brain barrier, and the rest is converted into dopamine in other regions of the body. Carbidopa does not penetrate the blood-brain barrier, but it prevents the conversion of levodopa to dopamine outside the brain and reduces the severity of side effects. Therefore, these two drugs are usually used in combination.
In many studies, it has been demonstrated that patients with Parkinson's disease have a reduced risk of developing many types of cancer compared to the general population. Since most of these patients are treated with a combination of levodopa and carbidopa, it has been suggested that one of these drugs or both of them have an antitumor effect.
Earlier studies have shown that levodopa does not affect the development of malignant tumors, whereas the antitumor properties of carbidopa have not yet been studied.
Together with colleagues from India and Japan, the authors tested the antitumor effect of carbidopa on the cell line of human pancreatic cancer and a mouse model of this disease. In both cases, the drug had a pronounced inhibitory effect on the growth of tumor cells.
The authors believe that carbidopa has a wide range of antitumor effects, but they chose pancreatic cancer as the object of research due to the low survival rate of patients with this disease and the limited possibilities of its therapy.
The recommended dose of carbidopa for Parkinson's disease is 200 mg per day, but the drug does not cause side effects even when taking 450 mg per day. In terms of human body weight, the dosage taken by mice in the experiment corresponded to less than 400 mg per day, which is within the recognized safe range for humans.
The researchers found that carbidopa activates the AhR aromatic hydrocarbon receptor. It is known that this receptor is involved in the development of malignant tumors. In addition, it has been shown that its activation can be an effective approach to the treatment of various types of cancer, including breast, colon and pancreatic cancers. The authors believe that this mechanism, at least in part, can explain the antitumor effect of carbidopa.
Currently, the authors are actively searching for additional targets of carbidopa as an antitumor agent. In addition, they plan to conduct clinical studies of the drug together with oncologists to determine the feasibility of its use as part of antitumor therapy protocols. The confirmed safety of carbidopa and the absence of severe side effects associated with its use favorably distinguishes it from traditional antitumor chemotherapy drugs. However, given the complex biology of cancer cells, it is very important to conduct research evaluating the effectiveness of carbidopa against different types of tumors.
Article by Jiro Ogura et al. Carbidopa is an activator of aryl hydrocarbon receptor with potential for cancer therapy published in the Biochemical Journal.
Evgeniya Ryabtseva
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru according to the materials of Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center: Pancreatic cancer could be treated with a Parkinson's drug.