Preventive Effect of Insect Tea on Buccal Mucosa Cancer

Background: Insect tea is a specific beverage or health product in China and is currently used as a Chinese medicine. Its functional effects must be demonstrated. In this chapter, cancer prophylactic effects of insect tea were evaluated using mouse models that mice were induced by squamous cell carcinoma U14 to evaluate vivo studies of the cancer of the buccal mucosa.

Materials and Methods: The ICR mice's buccal mucosa model was created by introducing mice with U14 cells and mice treated with insect tea. The volume of tumors and lymph node metastases have been determined. Both the tissues of the bug mucosa and cervical lymph node cancer were also tested by a histological test, a real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blot analysis.

Results: Tumor volumes for the insect-treated group of mice tea were lower than those of control mice. Sections of the cancer tissue of the bug mucosa showed that the cancer of insect tea mice was weaker than the control of mice. The insect tea significantly induced apoptosis in the busttal tissues of the mucosa by upregulating Bax, caspases, and downregulating Bcl-2. Nuclear factor-KB, an indelible synthesis of nitric oxide, and the COX-2 gene, has been significantly down-regulated by insect tea, demonstrating its anti-inflammatory properties. Insect tea has also had a large anti-metastasic effect on tissues, as evidenced by the decrease in the expression of the genes of the metaloproteinase matrix and the increase in expression of matrix metaloproteinase tissue inhibitors.

Conclusion: The highest concentration of 1600 mg/kg of oral havaja and 400 mg/mL of insect tea smear showed the best anti-cancer effects. Based on the results, insect tea showed a strong in vivo prophylactic effect of cancer of the buccaneer mucosa.