Effects of quercetin on polyamine metabolism in experimentally induced breast tumours

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide and the leading cause of cancer-related deaths. Putrescine, spermidine and spermine are the three main polyamines found in mammalian cells. Polyamines are essential molecules for cell growth and proliferation. High polyamine levels are known to be associated with cancer. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of quercetin on the levels of putrescine, spermidine and spermine, which are polyamines, in serum and tumour tissue in mice with experimentally induced breast tumours. In the study, 50 male Balb/c mice were used. Five experimental groups were formed as healthy control and treatment, tumour control, treatment 1 and 2 (n=10). A breast cancer model was created by injecting 200µL Ehrlich ascites tumour cells subcutaneously into the left inner leg of the mice in the tumour control, treatment 1 and 2 groups. Healthy and tumour control groups were injected intraperitoneally with dissolving agent, healthy treatment and treatment 1 groups with 10 mg/kg, treatment 2 group with 30 mg/kg quercetin for 14 days. Putrescine, spermidine and spermine levels in tumour tissue and serum were measured by high performance liquid chromatography. Serum putrescine, spermidine and spermine levels were statistically significantly higher in the tumour control group compared to the healthy control group. In both treatment groups, tumour tissue and serum putrescine, spermidine and spermine levels were found to be statistically significantly lower compared to the tumour control group. A remarkable improvement was observed in the histopathological appearance of the treatment groups, more prominent in treatment group 2, compared to the tumour control group. In conclusion, our study showed that quercetin may have anticancer effect by reducing the increased levels of putrescine, spermidine and spermine in serum and tumour tissue in mice with experimentally induced breast tumour. Key words: Breast cancer, putrescine, spermidine, spermine, quercetin