Zanthoisobutylamides A - C: rare dimeric C-6 substituent dihydrobenzophenanthridine alkaloids from the roots of Zanthoxylum nitidum.

Three new dihydrobenzophenantridine alkaloids, zanthoisobutylamides A-C (2-4), consisting of a rare 6-alkylamide dihydrochelerythrine moiety, and two new small molecules of the unsaturated alkylamide, zanthoxylumamide J (1) and of phenylpropanoid, methyl 2-hydroxy-3,4-dimethoxycinnamate (5) together with 44 known compounds were isolated from the roots of Zanthoxylum nitidum. The structures of these compounds were established by analysis of spectroscopic data and comparison of their spectroscopic data with those previously published data. Some isolated compounds were evaluated for their cytotoxic activities.

Apoptosis Induction through MAPK Signaling Pathway in LoVo Cells by Fatty Acid Fraction from Rice Bran Oil.

Colorectal cancer is one of the five leading cancer incidents and mortality in Thailand and worldwide. Fatty acids (FA) are bioactive molecules which have potential as adjunctive chemotherapeutic agents. To study the effect of fatty acid fraction (FAs) extracted from organic rice bran oil on apoptosis induction and growth inhibition in human colorectal cancer cell line, LoVo cells. The results demonstrated that FAs inhibited cell viability and induced cell death via apoptosis associated with MAPKs pathway. The EC50 of FAs in LoVo was 172.80 ± 1.05 µg/ml. FAs treatment significantly increased nuclear condensation and decreased mitochondrial membrane potential. Moreover, FAs activated Bax, Caspase-9, -7 and PARP cleavage, while inhibited Bcl-2 expression. Furthermore, FAs increased p53 expression and phosphorylation of ERK and p38. FAs extracted from organic rice bran oil inhibited LoVo cell viability and induced apoptosis via MAPKs pathway. These data suggest the potential use of FAs extracted from organic rice bran oil to prevent or treat colon cancer in the future.