Colorectal cancer is one of the most diagnosed cancers that is associated with inflammation. Ficus dubia latex is recognized as a remedy with various therapeutic effects in traditional medicine, including anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activity. The present study aims to compare the anti-tumor activity of Ficus dubia latex extract (FDLE) against HCT-116 and HT-29 human colorectal cancer cell lines in normal and inflammatory condition and explore its mechanism of action. FDLE exhibited remarkable antiproliferative activity against HCT-116 and HT-29 colorectal cancer cell lines in both conditions using MTT and colony formation assays and more effective anti-proliferation was observed in inflammatory condition. Mechanistically, FDLE induced cell cycle arrest at G0/G1 phase by down-regulating NF-κB, cyclin D1, CDK4 and up-regulatingp21 in both cell in normal condition. In inflammatory condition, FDLE not only exhibited stronger induction of cell cycle arrest in both cells by down-regulating NF-κB, cyclin D1, CDK4 and down-regulating p21, but also selectively induced apoptosis in HCT-116 cells by down-regulating NF-κB and Bcl-xl and up-regulating Bid, Bak, cleaved caspase-7 and caspase-3 through stronger ability to regulate these proteins. Our results demonstrated that the phytochemical agent in the latex of Ficus dubia could potential be used for treatment and prevention of human colorectal cancer, especially in inflammation-induced hyperproliferation progression.

Perilla frutescens (PF) seed residue is a waste from perilla oil production that still contains nutrients and phytochemicals. This study aimed to investigate the chemoprotective action of PF seed residue crude ethanolic extract (PCE) on the inflammatory-induced promotion stage of rat colon carcinogenesis and cell culture models. PCE 0.1 and 1 g/kg body weight were administered by oral gavage to rats after receiving dimethylhydrazine (DMH) with one week of dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) supplementation. PCE at high dose exhibited a reduction in aberrant crypt foci (ACF) number (66.46%) and decreased pro-inflammatory cytokines compared to the DMH + DSS group (p < 0.01). Additionally, PCE could either modulate the inflammation induced in murine macrophage cells by bacterial toxins or suppress the proliferation of cancer cell lines, which was induced by the inflammatory process. These results demonstrate that the active components in PF seed residue showed a preventive effect on the aberrant colonic epithelial cell progression by modulating inflammatory microenvironments from the infiltrated macrophage or inflammatory response of aberrant cells. Moreover, consumption of PCE could alter rat microbiota, which might be related to health benefits. However, the mechanisms of PCE on the microbiota, which are related to inflammation and inflammatory-induced colon cancer progression, need to be further investigated.