Dimethyl Sulfoxide / BioEnh Cancer Research Results

DMSO, Dimethyl Sulfoxide: Click to Expand ⟱
Features:
Chemical that dissolves many substances that can affect the body.
It is used for bladder inflammation, limb pain, and IV leakage, but it can also cause side effects and interact with other drugs.

Dimethyl sulfoxide — DMSO is a small, highly polar organosulfur compound with the formula (CH3)2SO. It is formally classified as a polar aprotic solvent, membrane-permeability enhancer, cryoprotectant and pharmaceutical excipient; concentrated DMSO also has direct biological activity. Standard abbreviations are DMSO and Me2SO. Commercial DMSO is produced by oxidation of dimethyl sulfide, historically obtained as a kraft-pulping by-product. In cancer research, DMSO is primarily a solvent and experimental differentiation agent rather than a clinically established anticancer drug. Its biological effects are strongly concentration-, exposure-time-, cell-type- and formulation-dependent.

Primary mechanisms (ranked):

  1. Concentration-dependent alteration of lipid-bilayer organization, membrane fluidity and permeability, including transient aqueous pore formation at sufficiently high concentrations.
  2. Induction of terminal differentiation and reversible growth arrest in selected malignant hematopoietic and transformed cell models.
  3. Modulation of gene expression, chromatin organization and transcriptional programs associated with differentiation and tumour-suppressive phenotypes.
  4. Direct cytotoxicity at higher concentrations through membrane injury, mitochondrial dysfunction, caspase activation, apoptosis or inflammatory cell-death signalling.
  5. Hydroxyl-radical scavenging and suppression of some oxidative and inflammatory injury pathways; these effects may protect normal or malignant cells from oxidative therapies.
  6. Enhancement of transdermal and cellular delivery of co-administered compounds, creating substantial drug-interaction and experimental-confounding potential.
  7. DMSO penetrates human skin with little effect on tissues; and the solvent was tested as a way for medicines to be carried into the body as an alternative to oral formulations or injectables.

Bioavailability / PK relevance: DMSO is rapidly absorbed across skin and biological membranes and distributes widely into tissues and body fluids. It is metabolized primarily to dimethyl sulfone and dimethyl sulfide; metabolites are eliminated through urine, feces, breath and skin. Systemic exposure can produce a characteristic garlic-like taste and odour. DMSO also increases tissue penetration of other chemicals, so pharmaceutical purity and control of contaminants are critical.

In-vitro vs systemic exposure relevance: Most cancer differentiation, growth-arrest and cytotoxicity studies use approximately 0.5–2.5% DMSO, equivalent to roughly 70–350 mM. These sustained concentrations are generally not representative of safe systemic anticancer exposure. DMSO concentrations routinely treated as an inert vehicle can themselves alter membranes, transcription, metabolism, proliferation and drug responses; solvent controls must therefore use the lowest feasible concentration, commonly at or below 0.1%, with cell-specific validation.

Clinical evidence status: Cancer evidence is predominantly preclinical and includes older leukemia-differentiation models and diverse cell-culture observations. DMSO has no established role as systemic or topical anticancer monotherapy and is not supported by anticancer RCT evidence. Its clinically recognized roles are intravesical symptomatic treatment of interstitial cystitis, cryopreservation of cells and tissues, and use as a penetration-enhancing pharmaceutical excipient. In oncology it is more relevant as a solvent, delivery vehicle, cryoprotectant and potential modifier of treatment response than as an active anticancer therapy.



Mechanistic effects of dimethyl sulfoxide

Rank Pathway / Axis Cancer Cells Normal Cells TSF Primary Effect Notes / Interpretation
1 Lipid bilayer permeability and fluidity ↑ membrane fluidity and permeability; ↑ pore formation (dose-dependent) ↑ membrane fluidity and permeability; membrane disruption at high concentration P Changes membrane organization and transport Central physicochemical mechanism. Low concentrations produce subtle bilayer changes; higher concentrations can cause dehydration, thinning and transient aqueous defects.
2 Malignant cell differentiation ↑ terminal differentiation in HL-60, Friend erythroleukemia and selected other models Context-dependent differentiation effects G Reduces immature malignant phenotype Classical but model-specific effect, usually requiring prolonged exposure to approximately 1–2% DMSO. Not clinically validated as leukemia differentiation therapy.
3 Cell-cycle progression ↓ G1 to S progression; ↑ reversible G1 arrest (context-dependent) ↓ proliferation at elevated concentrations G Cytostatic growth suppression Often accompanies differentiation. Arrest may be reversible after DMSO removal and should not automatically be classified as tumour-cell killing.
4 Transcription and chromatin state ↑ differentiation-associated transcription; ↓ oncogenic phenotype in selected models Broad gene-expression changes (model-dependent) G Reprograms cell phenotype DMSO is not a selective epigenetic drug. Effects include changes in chromatin conformation, transcription factors and tumour-suppressive genes such as HLJ1 in specific models.
5 Apoptosis and inflammatory cell death ↑ apoptosis or caspase activation (high concentration only); ↓ apoptosis in some models ↑ cytotoxicity and caspase-1 activation (high concentration only) R–G Concentration-dependent cell death or cytoprotection Direction is not uniform. Approximately 2.5% DMSO induced apoptosis selectively in one transformed keratinocyte model, whereas other studies found suppression of apoptosis.
6 Mitochondrial integrity ↓ mitochondrial function at cytotoxic concentrations; preservation reported under some oxidative injuries ↔ or ↑ mitochondrial preservation at low protective exposures; ↓ function at high concentration R–G Bidirectional mitochondrial modulation Secondary and highly context-dependent. DMSO may either contribute to cytotoxicity or protect mitochondria from specific oxidants.
7 Hydroxyl radical and oxidative injury ↓ hydroxyl-radical-mediated damage; possible ↓ efficacy of ROS-dependent therapy ↓ oxidative tissue injury P–R Radical scavenging and cytoprotection DMSO is widely used experimentally as a hydroxyl-radical scavenger. This is not equivalent to broad antioxidant activity against every ROS species.
8 Radiosensitization and radioprotection ↓ radiation injury in some systems; mixed effects on treatment response ↓ hydroxyl-radical-mediated radiation injury P–R Predominantly radioprotective under radical-mediated conditions DMSO should not be classified generally as a radiosensitizer. Radical scavenging can protect both normal and malignant cells and may confound radiation experiments.
9 Drug and solute penetration ↑ intracellular and transmembrane delivery of dissolved agents ↑ dermal and tissue uptake of drugs and contaminants P Delivery enhancement Can increase apparent potency, toxicity or distribution of co-administered compounds. DMSO vehicle controls do not isolate this interaction when permeability itself changes.
10 Cryoprotection ↑ post-thaw viability of tumour cells and cellular therapeutics ↑ post-thaw viability; ↓ ice-crystal injury P Prevents freezing-associated cellular damage Major clinical and laboratory use. Residual DMSO in infused cryopreserved products can produce acute infusion reactions and other toxicity.
11 Clinical Translation Constraint In-vitro active concentrations often exceed practical systemic anticancer exposure Systemic, ocular, hypersensitivity and interaction concerns G Limits anticancer translation No established anticancer indication. Biological activity is nonselective, concentration-dependent and inseparable from solvent, membrane and delivery effects.

P: 0–30 min    R: 30 min–3 hr    G: >3 hr



BioEnh, bioenhancer: Click to Expand ⟱
Source:
Type:
A bioenhancer is an agent capable of enhancing bioavailability and efficacy of a drug with which it is co-administered

Query Database for BioEnhancers but the bioenhancers mainly show up under the target notes

Bioenhancers
- piperine and quercetin are considered bio-enhancers
- genistein
Piperine act by suppressing P-gp and cytochrome P450 enzymes, which counteract the metabolism of rifampicin via these proteins, thus enhancing the oral bioavailability of rifampicin. It also decreases the intestinal production of glucuronic acid, thus allowing more substances to enter the body in active form. It was found to increase the bioavailability of various drugs from 30% to 200%.[25]
Table 1: Published research on bioenhancer effect of piperine with various medicines
Drug Studied in Reference
Antimicrobial agents
Rifampicin In vitro Balakrishnan et al, 2001[11]
Isoniazid Rabbits Karan et al, 1998 [12]
Pefl oxacin Mountain Gaddi goats Madhukar et al, 2008[13]
Tetracycline Rats Atal et al, 1980[14]
Sulfadiazine Rats and dogs Atal et al, 1980[14]
Oxytetracycline Poultry birds Singh et al, 2005[15]
Ampicillin Rabbits Janakiraman and Manavalan, 2008[16]
Norfl oxacin Rabbits Janakiraman and Manavalan, 2008 [16]
Nevirapine Adult males Kasibhatta et al, 2007 [17]
Metronidazole In vitro Singh et al, 2010[18]
Analgesics
Diclofenac sodium Albino mice Pooja et al, 2007[19]
Pentazocine Albino mice Pooja et al, 2007[19]
Nimesulide Mice Gupta et al, 1998[20]
Antiepileptics
Carbamazepine In vitro Pattanaik et al, 2009 [21]
Phenytoin Human volunteers Bano et al, 1987[22]
Pentobarbitone Rats Majumdar et al, 1990[23]
Other drugs
Propranolol In vitro Bano et al, 1991 [24]
Theophylline In vitro Bano et al, 1991 [24]
Nutrients In vitro Pooja et al, 2007 [19
***Borneol
-Borneol is thought to temporarily open tight junctions between endothelial cells, enhancing drug penetration. It may also downregulate efflux transporters such as P-glycoprotein (P-gp), allowing higher intracellular concentrations of co-administered drugs.

-presence of urea (as a carrier) increased the aqueous solubility of capsaicin by 3.6-fold compared to pure capsaicin

Quercetin is found in citrus fruits and is a dual inhibitor of cytochrome P 3A4 (CYP3A4) and P-gp.
Table 2: Effect of quercetin pretreatment/co-treatment on pharmacokinetic parameters of different drugs
Drugs combined Increase in pharmacokinetic parametera
Cmax AUC ABA
Verapamil Two fold Two fold SH
Diltiazem SH SH Not known
Paclitaxel SH SH T wo fold
Digoxin 413% 170% Not known
Tamoxifen SH SH 59%
Compared to drug in question alone. Cmax, peak plasma concentration; AUC, area under the curve; ABA, absolute bioavailability; SH, significantly higher.

Another flavonoid, genistein belongs to the isoflavone class of flavonoids. It is a well-known phytoestrogen. The presence of genistein (10 mg/kg) caused an increase in AUC (54.7%) and a decrease in the total plasma clearance (35.2%) after oral administration of paclitaxel at a dose of 30 mg/kg in rats.[37]
Naringin is the major flavonoid glycoside found in grapefruit and makes grapefruit juice taste bitter. Oral naringin (3.3 and 10 mg/kg) was pretreated 30 min before and after intravenous administration of paclitaxel (3 mg/kg), the AUC was significantly improved (40.8% and 49.1% for naringin doses of 3.3 and 10 mg/kg, respectively).[38

Carum carvi/Cuminum cyminum ( Jeera)
Carum carvi seeds are a prized culinary herb. Extracts of its parts increased significantly (25%–300%), the bioavailability of a number of classes of drugs, such as antibiotics, antifungals, antivirals, anticancer, cardiovascular, anti-inflammatory/ antiarthritic, anti-TB, antileprosy, antihistaminic/respiratory disorders, corticosteroids, immunosuppressants, and antiulcers. Such extracts either in the presence or absence of piperine have been found to be highly selective in their bioavailability/bioefficacy-enhancing action.[40]
Capmul
One of the widely used bioenhancers is Capmul MCM C10, a glyceryl monocaprate, produced from edible fats and oils and is commonly used in lip products. In a study in rats, antibiotic ceftriaxone when given concomitantly with capmul, increased the bioavailability of ceftriaxone by 80%.[41]
Nitrile glycoside
Nitrite glycoside is a bioenhancer for drugs and nutrients. Novel bioactive nitrile glycosides, niaziridin and niazirin is obtained from the leaves, pods, and bark of Moringa oleifera. [42] An immunoenhancing polysaccharide and niaziminin, having structural requirement to inhibit tumor promoter-induced Epstein–Barr virus activation have been reported from the leaves of Moringa.[43,44] It enhances the bioactivity of commonly used antibiotics, such as rifampicin, tetracycline, and ampicillin, and also facilitate the absorption of drugs, vitamins, and nutrients through the gastrointestinal membrane, thus increasing their bioavailability. [41] Niazirin is another bioactive nitrile glycoside belonging to M. oleifera. [45,46] Process of isolation of nitrite glycoside from M. oleifera has been patented (US 6858588) by Khanuja et al in 2004–2005. [42

Mechanism of Action Of Bioenhancers
Bioavailability-enhancing activity of natural compounds from the medicinal plants may be attributed to various mechanisms, such as P-gp inhibition activity by flavone, quercetin, and genistein; [51] inhibition of efflux transporters, such as P-gp and breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP),[52,53] by naringin and sinomenine thus preventing drug resistance; DNA receptor binding, modulation of cell signaling transduction, and inhibition of drug efflux pumps[54-56] ; by stimulating leucine amino peptidase and glycyl–glycine dipeptidase activity, thus modulating the cell membrane dynamics related to passive transport mechanism as seen with piperine [57] ; nonspecific mechanisms, such as increased blood supply to the gastrointestinal tract, decreased hydrochloric acid secretion, preventing breakdown of some drugs[6] ; and inhibition of metabolic enzymes participating in the biotransformation of drugs, thus preventing inactivation and elimination of drugs and thereby, increasing their bioavailability. [57-5]


Scientific Papers found: Click to Expand⟱
6723- DMSO,    Modulating the structure and properties of cell membranes: the molecular mechanism of action of dimethyl sulfoxide
- Review, Nor, NA
*BioEnh↑, *other↝,

Showing Research Papers: 1 to 1 of 1

* indicates research on normal cells as opposed to diseased cells
Total Research Paper Matches: 1

Pathway results for Effect on Cancer / Diseased Cells:


Total Targets: 0

Pathway results for Effect on Normal Cells:


Transcription & Epigenetics(tgid=7)

other↝, 1,  

Drug Metabolism & Resistance(tgid=21)

BioEnh↑, 1,  
Total Targets: 2

Scientific Paper Hit Count for: BioEnh, bioenhancer
Query results interpretion may depend on "conditions" listed in the research papers.
Such Conditions may include : 
  -low or high Dose
  -format for product, such as nano of lipid formations
  -different cell line effects
  -synergies with other products 
  -if effect was for normal or cancerous cells
Filter Conditions: Pro/AntiFlg:%  IllCat:%  CanType:%  Cells:%  prod#:72  Target#:1310  State#:%  Dir#:2
wNotes=0 sortOrder:rid,rpid

 

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