ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Veterinary Pharmacology and Toxicology
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fvets.2025.1549550
This article is part of the Research TopicExploring Plant-Based Therapies in Veterinary MedicineView all 5 articles
Comparative Analysis of IscM and IscQu in Feline Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Treatment: Cytotoxic and Apoptotic Insights
Provisionally accepted
Huseyin Cakiroglu1
Asuman Deveci Ozkan2*Gulay Erman3,4Mehmet Fatih Bozkurt5
Sevinc Yanar6
Elif Kale Bakir7
Yonca Yuzugullu Karakus8- 1Experimental Medicine Research and Application Centre, Sakarya University, Sakarya, Türkiye
- 2Department of Medical Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Sakarya University, Sakarya, Sakarya, Türkiye
- 3Health Services Education Research and Application Centre, Sakarya University, Sakarya, Türkiye
- 4Department of Medical Biochemistry, Institute of Health Science, Sakarya University, Sakarya, Türkiye
- 5Department of Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Afyon Kocatepe University, Afyon, Türkiye
- 6Department of Histology and Embryology, Faculty of Medicine, Sakarya University, Sakarya, Sakarya, Türkiye
- 7Department of Biology, Kocaeli University, Institute of Science, Kocaeli, Türkiye
- 8Department of Biology, Kocaeli University Faculty of Arts and Science, Kocaeli, Türkiye
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Backround: Feline oral squamous cell carcinoma (FOSCC) is the most common malignant oral tumor in cats, characterized by invasive and aggressive behavior regardless of its location. Conventional treatments, including surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy, often yield unsatisfactory outcomes, with tumor progression and tissue destruction frequently leading to euthanasia. In anthroposophical medicine, extracts of Viscum album have been developed as complementary cancer treatments, with Iscador, the oldest and most widely used oncological drug, showing promising anticancer potential. This study investigated, for the first time, the cytotoxic and apoptotic effects of IscM and IscQu, two Viscum album extracts, on FOSCC cells. Methods: Using primary cultures of three FOSCC cell lines, cell viability assays were performed to assess cytotoxicity, and the effects on apoptotic cell death, cell cycle arrest, and cellular and nuclear morphology were evaluated. Additionally, mRNA expression levels of Cyclin D, Cdk4, Bcl-2, Bax, and p53 were analyzed. Results: The results revealed that both IscM and IscQu induced apoptotic cell death and promoted cell cycle arrest in all three FOSCC cell lines tested. IscQu exhibited relatively stronger pro-apoptotic effects compared to IscM, although no significant differences were observed among the cell lines. Conclusion: These findings suggest that Viscum album extracts, particularly IscQu, may exert anti-tumor effects on feline oral squamous cell carcinoma cells in vitro.
Keywords: Iscador, Viscum album, Apoptosis, Anticancer effect, feline squamous cell carcinoma
Received: 21 Dec 2024; Accepted: 08 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Cakiroglu, Deveci Ozkan, Erman, Bozkurt, Yanar, Kale Bakir and Yuzugullu Karakus. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Asuman Deveci Ozkan, Department of Medical Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Sakarya University, Sakarya, Sakarya, Türkiye
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