1. HEND ABDALLA ALSHABRAWY - Assistant Lecturer, Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology Department, Faculty of Dentistry, Suez Canal University, Kilo 6 Ring Root, Ismailia, Egypt. 2. MAGDA MOHAMED HASSAN - Professor, Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology Department, Faculty of Dentistry, Suez Canal University, Kilo 6 Ring Root, Ismailia, Egypt. 3. MERHAN NABIH ELMANSY - Associate Professor, Oral Pathology and Maxillofacial Department, Faculty of Dentistry, Suez Canal University, Kilo 6 Ring Root, Ismailia, Egypt.
Objective: Curcumin (Cu) exhibits antitumor and anti-inflammatory activity in oral carcinogenesis but has limited clinical translation due to poor bioavailability, which piperine (Pip) can improve. This study evaluated the antitumor and immunomodulatory effects of intraperitoneal Cu-Pip therapy, given for 2 or 4 weeks, in a DMBA-induced hamster buccal pouch carcinogenesis model, focusing on programmed death ligand-1 (PDL-1) and cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein-4 (CTLA-4) expression. Materials and methods: Twenty male Syrian golden hamsters were allocated to a negative control (A1), a DMBA-only positive control (A2), and two DMBA-exposed groups treated intraperitoneally with Cu (80 mg/kg) and Pip (1 mg/kg) daily for 2 (A3) or 4 weeks (A4). Body weight, tumor area, leukocyte counts, serum IL-10/TNF-α, -histopathological grade, and intratumoral PDL-1 and CTLA-4 expression were compared. Results: A3 and A4 groups showed significant reductions in body weight and tumor area relative to A2. Histopathology shifted from deeply invasive, moderately differentiated carcinoma in A2 to well-differentiated, superficially invasive carcinoma in A4. IL-10 and TNF-α were extremely significantly elevated in A2 relative to A1. TNF- α showed continuous elevation in A3 and A4, while IL-10 declined extremely significantly in A3 and A4 relative to A2. Neutrophilia and lymphopenia in A2 were partially reversed by treatment. CTLA-4 levels were extremely significantly reversed in A3 and fell extremely significantly in A4 relative to A2. PDL-1 declined significantly only in A4. Conclusions: Intraperitoneal Cu-Pip therapy reduced tumor burden and histopathological aggressiveness, with duration-dependent changes in the expression of cytokines and immune checkpoints. This suggests that there are immunomodulatory effects contribute to its antitumor activity, warranting further investigation.
Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma, Curcumin, Piperine, CTLA-4, PDL-1, Hamster Buccal Pouch.