Recent advances in pharmacologic study of natural anticancer agents in China

Abstract

In this paper a number of anticancer agents of natural origin will be presented. Hydroxycamptothecin (HCPT) was found to produce a strong inhibitory action on a variety of animal tumors. It is also effective for treatment of patients with gastric carcinoma, liver carcinoma, tumor of head and neck or leukemia. Pharmacologic studies showed that it could depress S phase of tumor cells significantly and cause formation of cellular chromatid breaks. By means of alkaline elution and nick translation methods it has been proved that HCPT induced DNA single strand breaks remarkably. Homoharringtonine (HHRT) was shown to be effective against acute leukemia. Recent experiments in tumor-bearing mice indicated that (HHRT) could diminish tumor metastasis. Using molecular hybridization technique it was demonstrated that (HHRT) decreased the content of c-myc RNA in the cytoplasm but not in the nuclei. Lycobetaine (LBT) possessed strong inhibitory effects on a number of ascites tumors. In clinical trials it was effective against ovarian and gastric carcinomas. It is able to intercalate into DNA. Oxalysine (OXL) is a new antibiotic and shown to be effective against tumor metastatis. When used in combination with 5-FU, its anticancer action could be enhanced. Other natural compounds such as indirubin, beta-elemene, irisquinone, oridonine, norcantharidin and PSP have been also found to possess antitumor action.

A decennial study of the trend of antibiotic studies in China

“…At that time, new biotechnological techniques, including gene transformation and protoplast fusion, were implemented to explore new antibiotics. In the same year, Xu (1991) pointed out that antibiotics like Oxalysine could be e cient treatment methods for cancer and hepatitis. After that, there was a fouryear gap until 1996.…”

Separation methods of quinonoid constituents of plants used in Oriental traditional medicines

“…irisquinone (Fig. 2) obtained from plant sources like Iridaceaelatea pallasii (Iridaceae) and used in antineoplastic Chinese medicines, has been found to be effective against transplantable rodent tumours [48,49]. It was also isolated from Iris kumaoensis in India [50], and used as a sensitiser for radiation therapy of cancer [51].…”

Four New Flavones and a New Isoflavone from Iris bungei

“…(Iridaceae) has been used in Mongolian traditional medicine for the treatment of diseases such as cancer, inflammation, and bacterial infections. Some benzoquinones isolated from several Iris species have been used as anticancer agents in modern Chinese medicine. − A number of flavones , and isoflavones − have been isolated from other species of this genus. In our continued phytochemical studies on I. bungei , we report here the isolation of four new flavones and an isoflavone.…”

“…Some benzoquinones isolated from several Iris species have been used as anticancer agents in modern Chinese medicine. [1][2][3][4][5] A number of flavones 6,7 and isoflavones [8][9][10][11] have been isolated from other species of this genus. In our continued phytochemical studies on I. bungei, 12 we report here the isolation of four new flavones and an isoflavone.…”