胰腺癌是一种高度侵袭性的恶性肿瘤，也是全球癌症相关死亡的主要原因。此外，胰腺癌的发病率和死亡率预计将继续增加。胰腺癌治疗的主要挑战是缺乏有效的筛查方法，这导致其预后不良，表明需要新的治疗方案和替代疗法，如草药治疗。地中海东部地区广泛分布的蓝紫草（Anchusa strigosa）是一种矮小多刺的鼠尾草科草本植物，被广泛用于传统医学治疗各种疾病。然而，其对人体胰腺癌的影响仍未得到充分研究。本研究筛查了通过浸泡法和超声辅助法获得的蓝紫草水提物（分别称为ASM和ASU）的植物化学成分，并评估了其抗氧化效果。我们还研究了它们的抗癌效果和可能的作用机制。结果显示，两种提取物均富含活性分子，其成分略有差异。两种提取物均在体外表现出显著的抗氧化潜力和强大的自由基清除活性。此外，两种提取物的非细胞毒浓度以时间和浓度依赖的方式抑制了细胞增殖，这与增殖标记物Ki67的减少和内源性凋亡通路的诱导相关。此外，这些提取物增加了胰腺癌细胞的聚集并减少其迁移能力，同时伴随着整合素β1的下调。最后，我们显示ASM提取物显著降低了与炎症、癌变、肿瘤进展和转移相关的酶COX-2的水平。综上所述，我们的发现提供了证据表明蓝紫草提取物，尤其是采用浸泡法获得的提取物，具有潜在的抗癌作用，可能成为设计新型胰腺癌药物的新资源。

Pancreatic cancer is a highly aggressive malignancy and a leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Moreover, the incidence and mortality rates for pancreatic cancer are projected to keep increasing. A major challenge in the treatment of pancreatic cancer is the lack of effective screening approaches, which contributes to its poor prognosis, indicating the need for new treatment regimens and alternative therapies, such as herbal medicine. The medicinal plant A. strigosa, which is widely distributed in the Eastern Mediterranean region, is a short prickly plant from the Boraginaceae family that has been widely used in traditional medicine for treating various diseases. Nevertheless, its effect on human pancreatic cancer remains poorly investigated. In the present study, we screened the phytochemical content of Anchusa strigosa aqueous extracts obtained by maceration and ultrasound-assisted methods (ASM and ASU, respectively) and evaluated their antioxidant effects. We also investigated their anticancer effects and possible underlying mechanisms. The results show that both extracts were rich in bioactive molecules, with slight differences in their composition. Both extracts exhibited remarkable antioxidant potential and potent radical-scavenging activity in vitro. Additionally, non-cytotoxic concentrations of both extracts attenuated cell proliferation in a time- and concentration-dependent manner, which was associated with a decrease in the proliferation marker Ki67 and an induction of the intrinsic apoptotic pathway. Furthermore, the extracts increased the aggregation of pancreatic cancer cells and reduced their migratory potential, with a concomitant downregulation of integrin β1. Finally, we showed that the ASM extract caused a significant decrease in the levels of COX-2, an enzyme that has been linked to inflammation, carcinogenesis, tumor progression, and metastasis. Taken together, our findings provide evidence that A. strigosa extracts, particularly the extract obtained using the maceration method, have a potential anticancer effect and may represent a new resource for the design of novel drugs against pancreatic cancer.Copyright © 2023 Chebaro, Abdallah, Badran, Hamade, Hijazi, Maresca, Mesmar and Baydoun.