1.
Cancer Lett
; 175(2): 147-55, 2002 Jan 25.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-11741742
ABSTRACT
The effects of cocoa powder and extracts with different amounts of flavanols and related procyanidin oligomers were investigated on the growth of Caco-2 cells. Treatment of the cells with 50 microg/ml of procyanidin-enriched (PE) extracts caused a 70% growth inhibition with a blockade of the cell cycle at the G2/M phase. PE extracts caused a significant decrease of ornithine decarboxylase and S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase activities, two key enzymes of polyamine biosynthesis. This led to a decrease in the intracellular pool of the polyamines. These observations indicate that polyamine metabolism might be an important target in the anti-proliferative effects of cocoa polyphenols.