Arbutus unedo L. Fractions Exhibit Chemotherapeutic Properties for the Treatment of Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors

Di Vito, Aldo;Mandrone, Manuela;Chiocchio, Ilaria;Gorini, Francesca;Ravegnini, Gloria;Coschina, Emma;Benuzzi, Eva;Trincia, Simona;Nozella, Augusto;Aasen, Trond;Sanna, Cinzia;Morroni, Fabiana;Hrelia, Patrizia;Poli, Ferruccio;Angelini, Sabrina

2024-01-01

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Abstract

Novel treatments in gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are essential due to imatinib resistance and the modest results obtained with multi-target tyrosine kinase inhibitors. We investigated the possibility that the hydroalcoholic extract from the leaves of Arbutus unedo L. (AUN) could harbor novel chemotherapeutics. The bio-guided fractionation of AUN led to a subfraction, FR2-A, that affected the viability of both imatinib-sensitive and -resistant GIST cells. Cells treated with FR2-A were positive for Annexin V staining, a marker of apoptosis. A rapid PARP-1 downregulation was observed, although without the traditional caspase-dependent cleavage. The fractionation of FR2-A produced nine further active subfractions (FRs), indicating that different molecules contributed to the effect promoted by FR2-A. NMR analysis revealed that pyrogallol-bearing compounds, such as gallic acid, gallic acid hexoside, gallocatechin, myricetin hexoside, and trigalloyl-glucose, are the main components of active FRs. Notably, FRs similarly impaired the viability of GIST cells and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), suggesting a non-specific mechanism of action. Nevertheless, despite the lack of specificity, the established FRs showed promising chemotherapeutic properties to broadly affect the viability of GIST cells, including those that are imatinib-resistant, encouraging further studies to investigate whether pyrogallol-bearing compounds could represent an alternative avenue in GISTs.