Morinda citrifolia (Noni) Juice Augments Mammary Gland Differentiation and Reduces Mammary Tumor Growth in Mice Expressing the Unactivated c-erbB2 Transgene
Figure 7
Thirty-day treatment of virgin, tumor-free MMTV-neu mice with 10% TNJ results in morphological differences in mammary gland differentiation. Representative photomicrographs shown for 2 animals in the control (panels a–d) and 10% TNJ-treated (panels e–h) groups; animal 1 is shown in panels (a) and (b) for control and (e) and (f) for TNJ groups and animal 2 is shown in panels (c) and (d) for control and (g) and (h) for TNJ groups. For panels (a) and (e) images were captured at the terminus of the gland at magnification 13x; panels (b) and (f) show enlargement of the area outlined by the dashed box at magnification 26x. For panels (c) and (g), images depict the area around the inguinal lymph node to qualitatively assess the degree of ductal branching and lobular differentiation at magnification 13x; panels (d) and (h) are the magnified portion of the gland in the adjacent micrograph outlined by the dashed boxes, magnification 26x. Black arrows identify lobular structures. Inset bars measure 1 mm. The graphs in panels (i) and (j) show quantification of the differentiation evident in the photomicrographs for the mice treated for 30 days with 10% TNJ. (i) The number of secondary ducts was quantified by locating larger, distinct primary ducts and counting the number of secondary branches along a 1-mm distance. Secondary ductule branching in the mammary glands of virgin, tumor-free MMTV-neu mice is significantly increased, ; control, , and TNJ, . (j) The average number of lobules was determined by quantifying lobuloalveolar structures in four separate 16 mm2 areas for each animal. The number of lobules was also significantly increased by TNJ in the same animals analyzed for secondary branching, . Mean ± SEM are shown; TNJ: Tahitian Noni Juice; **indicates significance, ; ***indicates significance, by Student’s -test.
