Positive Health Online

Abstract

ZHENG and colleagues, Cancer Institute, Zhejian Medical University, Hangzhou, China write that various naturally occurring substances from vegetables and herbs exert chemopreventive properties against cancer. The authors review two such compounds, isolated from garlic and from a traditional Chinese medicinal herb, elemene, isolated from the herb Rhizoma zedoariae .

Background

Methodology

Results

Elemene was shown to exhibit antitumour activity in human and murine tumour cells both in vitro and in vivo and has shown substantial clinical activity against various tumours. Analysis by MTT assay of the effect of elemene upon the growth of leukaemia cells showed that the IC50 for promyelocytic leukaemia HL-60 cells and erythroleukaemia K562 cells were 27.5 micrograms/ml and 81 micrograms/ml respectively, and the IC50 for peripheral blood leukocytes PBL) was 254.3 micrograms/ml. Inhibition of elemene upon the proliferation of HL-60 cells was associated with cell cycle arrest from S to G2M phase transition, and with the induction of apoptosis . The apoptosis of tumour cells was confirmed by DNA ladder formation using gel electrophoresis and ultrastructural alterations. The results also demonstrated that the inhibitory effects of allicin, a natural organosulfide from garlic, upon the proliferation of tumours cells were associated with the cell cycle blockage of S/G2M boundary phase and the induction of apoptosis .

Conclusion

These results suggest that the induction of apoptosis may contribute to the mechanisms of antitumour activity of elemene and allicin, which deserve further investigation as potential chemoprevention agents in humans.

References

Zheng S et al. Initial study on naturally occurring products from traditional Chinese herbs and vegetables for chemoprevention. J Cell Biochem Suppl 27: 106-12. 1997.

Comment

Again, progress in working out how substances in garlic and the Chinese herb elemene exert anti-cancer activity, namely by the induction of apoptosis and the arrest of cell growth.