Betulinic acid shows promise as a possible topical treatment for Equine malignant melanoma (EMM) according to recent laboratory research.
Melanomas are common in grey horses affecting up to 80% of them by the time they are 15 years old. Current treatment options are limited, and often not very successful.
Lisa A. Weber, Jessica Meißner of the Foundation University
of Veterinary Medicine Hannover and colleagues investigated the effects of the betulinic
acid (BA) on equine melanoma cells and equine dermal fibroblasts in cell culture.
They also looked at its spread through isolated equine skin.
They found that betulinic
acid inhibited cell proliferation and reduced cell viability of both equine
melanoma cells and fibroblasts. However,
the results did not show a selective effect on cancer cells compared with
normal cells.
In isolated skin preparations, they found that BA could penetrate
the stratum corneum and spread through the epidermal and dermal layers.
The research team conclude that “the potent percutaneous
permeation of BA in normal skin together with its anticancer effects on equine
melanoma cells suggest that this substance may exert antitumoral effects in
vivo.”
They suggest that their findings support the use of BA in
further preclinical and clinical trials for topical EMM treatment.
For more details, see:
Betulinic acid shows anticancer activity against equine
melanoma cells and permeates isolated equine skin in vitro.
Lisa A. Weber, Jessica Meißner, Julien Delarocque, Jutta
Kalbitz, Karsten Feige, Manfred Kietzmann, Anne Michaelis, Reinhard Paschke,
Julia Michael, Barbara Pratscher, and Jessika-M. V. Cavalleri
BMC Vet Res. (2020); 16: 44.
2 comments:
It would be interesting to know if the new research concerning melanomas could be relevant to sarcoids, these seem very prevalent & treatment is still somewhat crude & hit & miss.
How to find out what the status is on any new /current studies or upcoming trials with horses? Or how to enroll ones horse in an upcoming trial???
Thank you
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