Antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and cytotoxicity of Phaleria macrocarpa (Boerl.) Scheff Fruit.

BACKGROUND: Phaleria macrocarpa (Scheff.) Boerl (Thymelaceae) originates from Papua Island, Indonesia and grows in tropical areas. The different parts of the fruit of P. macrocarpa were evaluated for antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and cytotoxic activities. METHODS: Phaleria macrocarpa fruit were divided into pericarp, mesocarp and seed. All parts of the fruit were reflux extracted with methanol. The antioxidant activity of the extracts were characterized in various in vitro model systems such as FTC, TBA, DPPH radical, reducing power and NO radical. Anti-inflammatory assays were done by using NO production by macrophage RAW 264.7 cell lines induced by LPS/IFN-γ and cytotoxic activities were determined by using several cancer cell lines and one normal cell line RESULTS: The results showed that different parts (pericarp, mesocarp, and seed) of Phaleria macrocarpa fruit contain various amount of total phenolic (59.2 ± 0.04, 60.5 ± 0.17, 47.7 ± 1.04 mg gallic acid equivalent/g DW) and flavonoid compounds (161.3 ± 1.58, 131.7 ± 1.66, 35.9 ± 2.47 mg rutin equivalent/g DW). Pericarp and mesocarp showed high antioxidant activities by using DPPH (71.97%, 62.41%), ferric reducing antioxidant power (92.35%, 78.78%) and NO scavenging activity (65.68%, 53.45%). Ferric thiocyanate and thiobarbituric acid tests showed appreciable antioxidant activity in the percentage hydroperoxides inhibitory activity from pericarp and mesocarp in the last day of the assay. Similarly, the pericarp and mesocarp inhibited inducible nitric oxide synthesis with values of 63.4 ± 1.4% and 69.5 ± 1.4% in macrophage RAW 264.7 cell lines induced by LPS/IFN-γ indicating their notable anti-inflammatory potential. Cytotoxic activities against HT-29, MCF-7, HeLa and Chang cell lines were observed in all parts. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicated the possible application of P. macrocarpa fruit as a source of bioactive compounds, potent as an antioxidant, anti inflammatory and cytotoxic agents.

Methylglyoxal content in drinking coffee as a cytotoxic factor.

A causal relationship between metabolic syndrome and methylglyoxal (MG) has been suggested. Consumption of coffee and other types of beverages has been known to produce MG, thus resulting in both nutritional and health concerns. The purpose of this study was to determine the ideal combination of coffee, cream, and sugar in order to minimize MG consumption. Four types of black coffee were tested: espresso, bold, mild, and a decaffeinated mild roast. Sugar and/or cream were added to the coffee samples to test whether MG levels were altered. Using high-performance liquid chromatography, the concentration of MG in various coffee samples was determined. The espresso coffee sample was found to contain the highest level of MG at 230.9 microM. The bold coffee roast had the 2nd highest amount of MG, followed by the mild and decaffeinated varieties. Adding cream to bold coffee significantly reduced its MG level in comparison to the coffee sample without cream. On the other hand, the addition of sugar to the bold coffee did not further increase the MG level in the samples. The cellular damaging effect of MG was shown as there were decreased numbers of cultured HEK-293 cells after 24 h of MG treatment (100 and 300 microM), which is consistent with an increased cell apoptosis induced by MG treatment (100 and 300 microM). Due to the overconsumption of exogenous MG, drinking an excess of any type of coffee poses health risks.

In vitro cytostatic and immunomodulatory properties of the medicinal mushroom Lentinula edodes.

Lentinula edodes, known as "shiitake" is one of the widely used medicinal mushrooms in the Orient. Antitumour activity of extracts of this mushroom has been widely demonstrated in animals and humans. However, this activity was shown to be host mediated and not by direct cytotoxic activity to cancer cells. This study demonstrates cytotoxic and cell growth inhibitory (cytostatic) effect of aqueous extracts of the mushroom on MCF-7 human breast adenocarcinoma cell line using an MTT cytotoxicity assay. Such effect was demonstrated with fruit body and mycelial extracts, the difference being that there was no significant suppression on normal cells with the latter. Furthermore mycelial extracts did not induce any cytostatic effect in both cancer and normal cell lines based on a DNA synthesis assay. The significant suppression of the proliferation of cancer cells was reflected by the comparatively low IC(50) values and the simultaneous higher respective values on normal fibroblast cells. The immunostimulatory activity of both fruit body and mycelial extracts was tested by the lymphocyte transformation test (LTT), which is based on the capacity of active immunomodulators to augment the proliferative response of rat thymocytes to T mitogens in vitro. Both fruit body and mycelial preparations were able to enhance the proliferation of rat thymocytes directly and act as co-stimulators in the presence of the T-mitogen PHA. Interestingly both extracts, similarly to zymosan showed SI(comit)/SI(mit) ratios of about 2, indicating adjuvant properties. Overall L. edodes aqueous extracts have demonstrated direct inhibition of the proliferation of human breast cancer cells in vitro and immunostimulatory properties in terms of mitogenic and co-mitogenic activity in vitro.