Antiproliferation, antioxidation and induction of apoptosis by Garcinia mangostana (mangosteen) on SKBR3 human breast cancer cell line

This study was designed to determine the antiproliferative, apoptotic and antioxidative properties of crude methanolic extract (CME) from the pericarp of Garcinia mangostana (family Guttiferae) using human breast cancer (SKBR3) cell line as a model system. SKBR3 cells were cultured in the presence of CME at various concentrations (0-50 microg/ml) for 48 h and the percentage of cell viability was evaluated by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-di phenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. CME showed a dose-dependent inhibition of cell proliferation with ED(50) of 9.25+/-0.64 microg/ml. We found that antiproliferative effect of CME was associated with apoptosis on breast cancer cell line by determinations of morphological changes and oligonucleosomal DNA fragments. In addition, CME at various concentrations and incubation times were also found to inhibit ROS production. These investigations suggested that the methanolic extract from the pericarp of Garcinia mangostana had strong antiproliferation, potent antioxidation and induction of apoptosis. Thus, it indicates that this substance can show different activities and has potential for cancer chemoprevention which were dose dependent as well as exposure time dependent.     

Cytotoxicity and inhibition of P-glycoprotein by selected medicinal plants from Thailand

Ethnopharmacological relevance

Thai medicine has a long tradition of tonifying medicinal plants. In the present investigation, we studied the flower extracts of Jasminum sambac, Mammea siamensis, Mesua ferrea, Michelia alba, Mimusops elengi, and Nelumbo nucifera and speculated that these plants might influence metabolism and substance flow in the body.

Materials and methods

Isolation of porcine brain capillary endothelial cells (PBCECs) as well as multidrug-resistance CEM/ADR5000 leukemia cells, MDA-M;B-231 breast cancer, U-251 brain tumor, and HCT-116 colon cancer cells were used. The calcein-acetoxymethylester (AM) assay was used to measure inhibition of P-glycoprotein transport. XTT and resazurin assays served for measuring cytotoxicity.

Results

The extracts revealed cytotoxicity towards CCRF-CEM leukemia cells to a different extent. The strongest growth inhibition was found for the n-hexane extracts of Mammea siamensis and Mesua ferrea, and the dichloromethane extracts of Mesua ferrea and Michelia alba. The flower extracts also inhibited P-glycoprotein function in porcine brain capillary endothelial cells and CEM/ADR5000 leukemia cells, indicating modulation of the blood–brain barrier and multidrug resistance of tumors. Bioactivity-guided isolation of coumarins from Mammea siamensis flowers revealed considerable cytotoxicity of mammea A/AA, deacetylmammea E/BA and deacetylmammea E/BB towards human MDA-MB-231 breast cancer, U-251 brain tumor, HCT-116 colon cancer, and CCRF-CEM leukemia cells.

Conclusion

The plants analyzed may be valuable in developing novel treatment strategies to overcome the blood–brain barrier and multidrug-resistance in tumor cells mediated by P-glycoprotein.     

The ethnopharmacology of pituri

During the 19th and early part of the 20th century, Australian Aborigines exploited a plant, Duboisia hopwoodii F. Meull. The leaves were cured and packaged in specially woven containers and the finished product, pituri, traded throughout half a million square kilometres of territory. Pituri was used as a stimulant and in larger doses as an analgesic. This anthropological study reports the collection and collation of interpreted historical references to this exploitation of D. hopwoodii. Chemical analysis of samples of D. hopwoodii and in particular of a museum sample of pituri collected from the Mulligan-Georgina Rivers area, an esteemed area for pituri, validate the anthropological hypothesis that the Aborigine had considerable empirical knowledge of nicotine and related alkaloids.