Anti-tumour promoter activity in Malaysian ginger rhizobia used in traditional medicine

Abstract

Summary Zingiberaceae rhizomes commonly used in the Malaysian traditional medicine were screened for anti-tumour promoter activity using the short-term assay of inhibition of 12-O-tetradecanoyl phorbol-13-acetate (TPA)-induced Epstein-Barr virus early antigen (EBV-EA) in Raji cells. The inhibition of TPA-induced EBV-EA was detected using the indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) and Western blot technique. The indirect IFA detected the expression/inhibition of EBV-EA-D (diffused EA antigen), whereas the Western blot technique detected the expression/inhibition of both EBV-EA-D and EA-R (restricted EA antigen). Seven rhizomes were found to possess inhibitory activity towards EBV activation, induced by TPA; they are: Curcuma domestica, C. xanthorrhiza, Kaempferia galanga, Zingiber cassumunar, Z. officinale, Z. officinale (red variety), and Z. zerumbet. A cytotoxicity assay was carried out to determine the toxicity of the Zingiberaceae rhizome extracts. The rhizome extracts that exhibited EBV activation inhibitory activity had no cytotoxicity effect in Raji cells. Therefore, the present study shows that several Zingiberaceae species used in Malaysian traditional medicine contain naturally occurring non-toxic compounds that inhibit the EBV activation, which, if further investigated, could contribute in the development of cancer prevention methods at the tumour-promoting stage.

[6]-Shogaol inhibits melanogenesis in B16 mouse melanoma cells through activation of the ERK pathway

“…Moreover, it has long been used in traditional Chinese and Korean medicine as an anticancer agent [30] . Ginger can also decrease the pain from arthritis [31] and protect against diarrhea [32] .…”

Genetic variation of Kaempferia (Zingiberaceae) in Thailand based on chloroplast DNA(psbA-trnH and petA-psbJ) sequences

“…Flavonoids (3,5,7,4'-tetramethoxyflavone and 5,7,4'-trimethoxyflavone) from K. parviflora and ethyl p-methoxycinnamate from K. galanga exhibited antimycobial activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Candida albicans (Yenjai et al, 2003a(Yenjai et al, ,b, 2004. The ethanol extract of K. galanga exhibited anti-tumor promoter activity (Vimala et al, 1999). Therefore, plants in this genus are valuable sources of various bioactive compounds.…”

Growth Inhibition and Induction of G1 Phase Cell Cycle Arrest in Human Lung Cancer Cells by a Phenylbutenoid Dimer Isolated from Zingiber cassumunar

“…4,5) Some compounds isolated from Z. cassumunar have been shown to have antiinflammatory and anti-oxidant activities. However, their anticancer activity has not been investigated yet.…”

“…Cell Cycle Analysis A549 cells were plated at a density of 2ϫ10 5 cells per 60 mm culture dish and incubated for 24 h. Fresh media containing various concentrations of PSC were added to culture dishes. Cells were harvested, fixed with 100% methanol overnight, and incubated with a staining solution containing 0.2% NP-40, RNase A (30 mg/ml), and propidium iodide (50 mg/ml) in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS).…”