RGCB research proves anti-cancer capabilities of black nightshade leaves

PTI, Nov 3, 2021, 1:11 PM IST

Thiruvananthapuram: A research project conducted by the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB) here has found that the berry-bearing black nightshade shrub could be effective for treating liver cancer.

The autonomous institute under the Centre’s Department of Biotechnology on Wednesday said that Uttroside-B isolated from this plant as part of its path-breaking research program has received orphan drug designation from the FDA of the United States.

”The berry-bearing black nightshade shrub is proving to possess the potency to treat liver cancer, as the compound, Uttroside-B isolated from this plant as part of the path-breaking research program of the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB) here, received orphan drug designation from the FDA of the United States”, it said in a statement.

A team of scientists who researched the institute said the leaves of ”Manathakkali”, which is a perennial shrub (Solanum nigrum)found in the backyards of houses and along roadsides of Kerala, have immense properties to protect the human body’s largest internal organ from uncontrollable cell growth.

Orphan Drug designation supports the development and evaluation of new treatments for rare diseases and allows fast-track approval of the drug.

The technology patented by Dr. Ruby John Anto, a senior scientist at RGCB, and her student, Dr. Lekshmi R Nath, has been bought by the US pharma company Q BioMed. The technology transfer was done through Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation (OMRF).

Dr. Ruby and Dr. Lekshmi isolated the drug molecule, Uttroside-B, from the leaves of the Manathakkali plant.

RGCB Director, Dr. Chandrabhas Narayana said the research will prove to be a breakthrough in the treatment of liver diseases, including liver cancer. The first milestone payment from QBioMed has already been received.

”The findings are path-breaking, given that the liver which primarily detoxifies food while aiding the digestion is found to be increasingly susceptible to cancer in modern times. The malignant disease of the bile-producing organ is estimated to kill no less than 800,000 people annually even as 900,000 new cases are reported every year,” he said.

In collaboration with Dr. L Ravishankar (CSIR-NIST, Thiruvananthapuram), who has developed a novel method to isolate the compound from Solanum nigrum leaves, Dr. Ruby and the team are currently studying the mechanism of action of the compound and evaluating its efficacy against fatty liver disease, non-alcoholic Steato Hepatitis (NASH) and liver cancer caused by food toxins.

Dr. Ruby said there is only one FDA-approved drug available for liver cancer treatment at present. The compound developed by her team is found to be more effective than the one available. Toxicity evaluation in human volunteers has shown that the compound is also effective in treating fatty liver.

Recent results from Dr. Ruby’s lab indicate that Chloroquine phosphate, a drug already being used in the clinics against malaria if repurposed and used in a combinatorial regimen with Uttroside-B can tremendously improve the therapeutic efficacy of Uttroside-B against liver cancer.

The technology has been granted a patent by the US, Canada, Japan, and South Korea. The research work was published in the Nature group of Journal, ‘Scientific Reports’.