Artepillin C was extracted from Brazilian propolis. Artepillin C (3,5-diprenyl-4-hydroxycinnamic acid) has a molecular weight of 300.40 and possesses antibacterial activity. When artepillin C was applied to human and murine malignant tumor cells in vitro and in vivo, artepillin C exhibited a cytotoxic effect and the growth of tumor cells was clearly inhibited. The artepillin C was found to cause significant damage to solid tumor and leukemic cells by the MTT assay, DNA synthesis assay, and morphological observation in vitro. When xenografts of human tumor cells were transplanted into nude mice, the cytotoxic effects of artepillin C were most noticeable in carcinoma and malignant melanoma. Apoptosis, abortive mitosis, and massive necrosis combined were identified by histological observation after intratumor injection of 500 microg of artepillin C three times a week. In addition to suppression of tumor growth, there was an increase in the ratio of CD4/CD8 T cells, and in the total number of helper T cells. These findings indicate that artepillin C activates the immune system, and possesses direct antitumor activity.

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To investigate the long-term effect of feeding royal jelly (RJ) on the testicular function, 32-week old male golden hamsters were fed diet containing RJ at doses of O ug/g diet (control), 50 ug/g diet or 500 ug/g diet for 12 weeks. At the end of the experiment, the hamsters were assessed for testicular function in terms of the amounts of intra-testicular free testosterone (TS) and histopathological changes. RJ diet groups showed higher TS Ievels and more intensive spermatogenesis than the control group in a dose-dependent manner. The intensity of spermatogenesis and TS Ievels in the 500 ug of RJ/g diet group showed significant differences ofp < 0.01 and p < 0.05, respectively, when compared with those in the control group. These results indicate that the long-term feeding of RJ inhibits the age-associated decline in the testicular function of male hamsters.