Cytotoxicity of an Innovative Pressurised Cyclic Solid-Liquid (PCSL) Extract from Artemisia annua.

Therapeutic treatments with Artemisia annua have a long-established tradition in various diseases due to its antibacterial, antioxidant, antiviral, anti-malaria and anti-cancer effects. However, in relation to the latter, virtually all reports focused on toxic effects of A. annua extracts were obtained mostly through conventional maceration methods. In the present study, an innovative extraction procedure from A. annua, based on pressurised cyclic solid-liquid (PCSL) extraction, resulted in the production of a new phytocomplex with enhanced anti-cancer properties. This extraction procedure generated a pressure gradient due to compressions and following decompressions, allowing to directly perform the extraction without any maceration. The toxic effects of A. annua PCSL extract were tested on different cells, including three cancer cell lines. The results of this study clearly indicate that the exposure of human, murine and canine cancer cells to serial dilutions of PCSL extract resulted in higher toxicity and stronger propensity to induce apoptosis than that detected by subjecting the same cells to Artemisia extracts obtained through canonical extraction by maceration. Collected data suggest that PCSL extract of A. annua could be a promising and economic new therapeutic tool to treat human and animal tumours.

Alpha-tocopheryl succinate alters cell cycle distribution sensitising human osteosarcoma cells to methotrexate-induced apoptosis.

alpha-Tocopheryl succinate (alpha-TOS) exerts pleiotrophic responses in malignant cells leading to cell cycle arrest, differentiation and apoptosis. We tested the ability of alpha-TOS to induce apoptosis or cell cycle perturbation in three human osteosarcoma (OS) cell lines which differ in their pRB and p53 status. We found high levels of apoptosis in OS cells carrying wild-type p53 gene when exposed to alpha-TOS, while the mutant p53 cells were resistant. A S/G2 transition arrest was observed in two OS cell lines exposed to alpha-TOS, which sensitised them to methotrexate, an agent whose activity is cell cycle-dependent. We propose that alpha-TOS may be used as a drug or an adjuvant for treatment of osteosarcomas.