---

Background: Berberine and Nano-curcumin are two herbal medicines with strong anti-cancer effects on tumor cells, but low toxicity on normal cells, when used alone. Breast cancer is known as the most common cancer in women and second deadly one. In this study, we evaluated the cytotoxicity effects of combination Berberine and Nano-curcumin in breast cancer cell line to see whether they have further synergism cytotoxicity on MCF-7 breast cancer cell line.
Methods: The cytotoxicity effects of Berberine and Nano-curcumin alone and in combination, were evaluated in MCF-7 cell lines using MTT cytotoxicity test. Statistical analysis is done through one-way ANOVA and Tukey multiple range tests.
Results: Analyzing results of this study showed that cytotoxicity of Nano-curcumin was higher than Berberine in a dose-dependent manner. The IC50 of combination Berberine and Nano-curcumin was lower and showed higher cytotoxicity in MCF-7 cells compared with the time we use each of these drugs alone.
Conclusion: In this study co-treatment of Berberine and Nano-curcumin significantly inhibited the growth of MCF-7 breast cancer cell line and resulted in synergism cytotoxicity effects. These results indicated on their potency to further combination of these two drugs with other agents and common chemotherapies to improve breast cancer outcomes.

---

Background: Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as Aspirin may have anticancer properties, and can be effective as a novel strategy for the treatment of colorectal cancer (CRC). The aim of this study was to assess the cytotoxic effects of Aspirin drug in CRC cell lines compared with Oxaliplatin drug in vitro.
Methods: Cell viability was assessed after treatment of SW742 and SW480 cells with Aspirin and Oxaliplatin by MTT assay, and the amount of IC50 was determined. Statistical analysis was performed through one-way ANOVA and Tukey multiple range analysis (SPSS 19.0 software (P <0.05).
Results: Aspirin and Oxaliplatin considerably inhibited the growth of SW742 and SW480 cell lines. SW742 cell line was more sensitive to Aspirin than SW480 cell line. The cytotoxic effect of Oxaliplatin was higher than Aspirin in both cell lines.
Conclusions: This study demonstrated that both Aspirin and Oxaliplatin have cytotoxic effects on SW742 and SW480 cell lines in vitro. Thus, Aspirin may be considered as a therapeutic agent in CRC, however, further in vivo investigations are required to fully establish this effect.

---

Background: Exposure to ionizing radiation induces reactive oxygen species (ROS) which leads to oxidative stress in the involved tissues. The oxidative stress may be minimized by using natural antioxidant products, such as Zingiber officinale or ginger. The aim of this study was to investigate the protective and antioxidant effects of ginger extract on the inhibition of oxidative stress in the serum and liver tissue of rats after exposure to x-ray irradiation.
Methods: Thirty-six Sprague Dawley rats were divided into six groups. Groups 1 and 2 received normal saline and DMSO, respectively; group 3 was placed in a turned-off X-ray device; group 4 was treated with ginger extract (100 mg/kg); groups 5 and 6 received X-radiation (4 Gy) and X-radiation + ginger extract, respectively. All treatments were orally administered once daily for four weeks. The total antioxidant capacity (TAC), total oxidant status (TOS) and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels were measured in the serum and liver tissues of the animals.
Results: X-ray radiation significantly increased the levels of MDA and TOS and decreased TAC in the serum and liver tissues of irradiated rats compared to those of the control group. Ginger pretreatment prior to X-ray, significantly decreased the MDA and TOS levels and increased the TAC levels in the serum and liver samples of the rats compared to the rats irradiated with X-ray alone.
Conclusions: This study demonstrated that ginger acted as a protector against X-ray radiation by suppressing the oxidative stress in the rats’ liver and serum samples.