Avaliação do efeito antitumoral da barbaloína em linhagens celulares de melanoma cutâneo

Abstract

Skin cancer is the most frequent type of malignant neoplasm in Brazil, representing approximately 30% of all oncological diagnoses in the country. The objective of this work was to evaluate the antitumor effect of barbaloin in cutaneous melanoma cell lines. Natural compounds have emerged as promising sources as adjuvants to anticancer drugs. Barbaloin, also known as aloin A, is an anthraquinone glycoside found in Aloe vera leaves. Several studies reinforce the role of barbaloin as a potent antineoplastic agent against multiple types of cancer, including non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), colorectal cell line SW620, and Ehrlich ascites carcinoma (EAC). The purinergic system, which comprises extracellular ATP, adenosine, and its receptors, plays a crucial role in regulating immune responses and inflammation. This is a quantitative, analytical, and experimental laboratory study (in vitro), conducted at the Federal University of the Southern Frontier/UFFS - Chapecó Campus. The results of this study demonstrate that barbaloin exerts cytotoxic, pro-apoptotic, pro-oxidative, and anti-migratory effects on the melanoma cell lines A375 and SK-MEL-28, with a dose-dependent response and a greater impact at concentrations of 1000 μM. Analysis of purinergic modulation revealed that A375 was more sensitive to barbaloin, exhibiting increased hydrolysis of ATP, ADP, and AMP, while SK-MEL-28 responded only at higher doses. These data suggest that barbaloin interferes with purinergic dynamics, influencing the balance between ATP and tumor cells. Thus, the findings broaden the knowledge about the potential of this molecule in the studied context, a field still little explored in the literature.