Chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa) fruit extract abrogates melanoma progression through boosting up IFN-γ-producing cells

Abstract

Chokeberry has exhibited cardioprotective, anti-bacterial, immunomodulating and anti-cancer properties. Chokeberry extract (CE) was tested in the model of melanoma induced by B16 cells inoculation in C57BL/6 mice.

CE treatment that began 7 days before inoculation and continued through the observation period, delayed melanoma appearance and increased infiltration of immune cells in the tumor microenvironment (TME). Levels of TNF, perforin, granzyme B and IL-1β did not differ between the CE-treated and control animals, but the TME of CE-treated mice contained more IFN-γ-producing cells and a lesser frequency of CCR5-expressing MDSC. In vitro, CE displayed no direct cytotoxicity to B16 cells. However, splenocytes isolated from CE-treated animals exerted strong cytotoxic effect on B16 cells in vitro. Neutralization of IFN-γ diminished the observed B16 death, suggesting that this effect was mediated mainly by splenocyte-derived IFN-γ.

In conclusion, pre-treatment with CE stimulated the anti-tumor immune response by enhancing IFN-γ-producing cells to act against melanoma.