Most cancer cells predominantly produce ATP by maintaining a high rate of lactate fermentation, rather than by maintaining a comparatively low rate of tricarboxylic acid cycle, i.e., Warburg's effect. In the pathway, the pyruvate produced by glycolysis is converted to lactic acid by lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). Here, we demonstrated that water extracts from the seeds of Myristica fragrans Houtt. (MF) inhibit the in vitro enzymatic activity of LDH. MF effectively suppressed cell growth and the overall Warburg effect in HT29 human colon cancer cells. Although the expression of LDH-A was not changed by MF, both lactate production and LDH activity were decreased in MF-treated cells under both normoxic and hypoxic conditions. In addition, intracellular ATP levels were also decreased by MF treatment, and the uptake of glucose was also reduced by MF treatment. Furthermore, the experiment on tumor growth in the in vivo mice model revealed that MF effectively reduced the growth of allotransplanted Lewis lung carcinoma cells. Taken together, these results suggest that MF effectively inhibits cancer growth and metabolism by inhibiting the activity of LDH, a major enzyme responsible for regulating cancer metabolism. These results implicate MF as a potential candidate for development into a novel drug against cancer through inhibition of LDH activity.
Keywords: Cancer Metabolism; Lactate Dehydrogenase; Myristica fragrans; Warburg Effect.