الفهرس 
AcknowledgementOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Oral squamous cell carcinoma was ranked tenth among the most common tumors, worldwide. Unfortunately, the available treatment protocols for such a malignancy have been associated with severe morbidity. Thus, the evolution of new therapeutic agents with a strong anti-cancer effect and limited side effects has become a must. In the past decades, multiple lines of evidence have suggested the possible use of natural therapeutic agents instead of chemical ones. Many studies have revealed the anti-tumor activity of Grape seed extract (GSE) in many cancer models.
The aim of the present study was to examine the anti-cancer and apoptotic effect of GSE on OSCC. Doxorubicin (Dox), one of the most powerful anti-neoplastic chemotherapeutic drugs, was used as a reference for comparing its results with those of GSE. Gingival squamous cell carcinoma cell line (ca9-22) was used and subcultured into 7 groups: 1 control group (not exposed to any treatment), 3 groups treated by GSE and the remaining 3 groups treated by Dox for 24, 48 and 72 time intervals. The viability percentage and cytotoxicity of cancer cells were determined by MTT viability assay. Then, cell cycle and apoptosis analysis were accomplished using flow cytometry. Finally, the apoptotic indicator (caspase-3) was measured by means of ELISA.
Results of the current work revealed that the percent of viable cancer cells in GSE treated groups decreased in G0-G1 and S phases of cell cycle, in comparison to their controls. Conversely, they were increased in G2-M and apoptotic phases. Moreover, the expression levels of caspase-3 were elevated in treated groups rather than their control groups, which have indicated active apoptosis.
In conclusion, GSE showed strong anti-cancer and apoptotic effect against OSCC cells in a dose and time-dependent manner. Although the results of GSE are in line with those of Dox, the later has exhibited slight stronger anticancer effect. However, the values obtained from the different investigations showed very little or negligible differences between GSE and Dox, especially with increasing time. Accordingly, this study elucidates the possibility of using GSE as a complementary, alternative or adjuvant therapy for conventional cytotoxic therapies, having less toxicity and side effects.