Areca catechu L. Extract Inhibits Colorectal Cancer Tumor Growth by Modulating Cell Apoptosis and Autophagy

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a common cancer globally, and chemotherapy often causes severe complications, necessitating effective drugs with minimal side effects. As Areca catechu L. extract (ACE) is a Traditional Chinese Medicine that contains numerous active compounds with anticancer effects, in this study, the Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assay was used to determine ACE’s effect on CRC cell lines, revealing that it significantly inhibits CoLo320DM and HCT116 cells. In vivo experiments with NU-Foxn1nu mice indicated that ACE inhibits tumor growth, while a flow cytometry assay revealed that higher ACE concentrations increased cell apoptosis and ROS levels. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) showed that ACE increases the fold changes in apoptosis, DNA damage, and autophagy-related genes while inhibiting the fold changes in cell proliferation and Wnt signaling pathway genes. We conducted Western blotting to confirm these findings. Overall, ACE demonstrates potential as a drug candidate by promoting apoptosis and autophagy, and significantly reducing cell viability and tumor growth, thus offering a new approach for effective colorectal cancer treatment with minimal side effects.