
Designer or hybrid aspirin developed by scientists has better cancer-fighting ability and in some cases might reduce the harmful side effects of taking aspirin daily, say scientists.
The new form is named NOSH-aspirin, as it releases nitric oxide (NO) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S).
Khosrow Kashfi, Ravinder Kodela and Mitali Chattopadhyay point out that NO and H2S are signalling substances produced in the body that relax blood vessels, reduce inflammation and have a variety of other effects.
Another designer aspirin that releases H2S was developed which also has anti-inflammatory properties and appears safe to the stomach.
Since NO and H2S are gases with physiological relevance, and Kashfi's group had previously shown beneficial effects with both NO- and H2S-aspirins, they postulated that a new hybrid that incorporated both of these entities might be even more potent and effective than either one alone.
Their hypothesis has proved to be correct.
They found indications that the new hybrid inhibits the growth of breast, colon, pancreas, lung, prostate and some leukemia cancer cells in laboratory tests.
Some of the NOSH-aspirins tested were more than 100,000 times more powerful against cancer cell growth than aspirin alone. Promisingly, the group reported that their hybrids did not damage normal cells.
The study has been published in the journal ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters.
Source: ANI