Maltol, a Maillard reaction product, exerts anti-tumor efficacy in H22 tumor-bearing mice via improving immune function and inducing apoptosis

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the anti-hepatoma activity of maltol, a Maillard reaction product, in H22 tumor-bearing mice. The results demonstrate that maltol not only significantly inhibited the growth of hepatoma H22 transplanted in mice, but also prolonged the survival time of H22-bearing mice. Furthermore, the levels of serum cytokines in H22 tumor-bearing mice, such as interferon gamma (IFN-γ), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and interleukin-2 (IL-2), were enhanced by maltol treatment. Importantly, immunohistochemical and western blotting analysis clearly show that maltol treatment increased Bax and decreased Bcl-2 protein expression levels of H22 tumor tissues in a dose-dependent manner. Collectively, our findings in the present study clearly demonstrate that the maltol markedly suppressed the tumor growth of H22 transplanted tumors in vivo at least partly via improving the immune functions, inducing apoptosis, and inhibiting angiogenesis.