Baker’s yeast induces apoptotic effects and histopathological changes on skin tumors in mice

Abstract

The current study investigates the apoptotic effect of Baker’s yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) on chemically-induced skin cancer in mice. Intra-tumoral treatment with yeast caused: increases in Ca2+ in skin homogenate, as well as modulation of the intrinsic/extrinsic pathways by downregulating Bcl-2 and FasL, upregulating Bax, and increasing the expression of cytochrome-c and caspases 9, 8, and 3. Histopathological changes were detected, including mild dysplasia, atypia, tumor regression, and absence of basaloid cell proliferation. No toxic effects were detected, as examined by histopathological, biochemical, and body weight analysis. These results show that yeast exerts anti-skin cancer activity, suggesting its possible use for treatment of human skin cancer.

Keywords

• skin cancer
• baker’s yeast
• apoptosis