Correlation Between Antioxidative Power and Anticancer Activity in Herbs from Traditional Chinese Medicine Formulae with Anticancer Therapeutic Effect

Abstract

Lobeliae chinensis Herba (''ban bian lian''), Rheum officinale Baill. (''da huang''), Sanguisorba officinalis Linn. (''di yu''), Agrimonia pilosa Ledeb. (''xian he cao''), and Paris polyphylla Smith (''zhi hua tou'') are well-known traditional Chinese medicines. They are commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine formulae against cancer. In this study, the antioxidant and anticancer effects of water extracts of these herbs were investigated. In the antioxidant and anticancer studies, water extracts of di yu, xian he cao, and da huang were show to be the most antioxidative and had the highest growth inhibitory effect on human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cell and human breast cancer MCF-7 cell. By comparing their percentage free radical scavenging capacity (SR%) and percentage growth inhibition on A549 and MCF-7 cells, a positive linear relationship between antioxidant activity and anticancer effect of the five herbal water extracts was found. This suggested that the antioxidants of the herbal water extracts might contribute to their anticancer effects on A549 and MCF-7 cells.

Antimicrobial, antioxidant and anticancer activities of <i>Strychnos lucida</i> R. Br.

“…In fact, antioxidants could reduce the risk of cancers, aging, atherosclerosis and other oxidants-induced diseases. Thus, antioxidants can protect living organisms from oxidative damage caused by reactive oxygen species (Li et al, 2007). Medicinal plants with antioxidant and anticancer (Li et al, 2007;Charoensin, 2014); and with anticancer and antimicrobial (Tamokou et al, 2013) activities have been reported.…”

“…Thus, antioxidants can protect living organisms from oxidative damage caused by reactive oxygen species (Li et al, 2007). Medicinal plants with antioxidant and anticancer (Li et al, 2007;Charoensin, 2014); and with anticancer and antimicrobial (Tamokou et al, 2013) activities have been reported. In addition, a variety of medicinal plants have been documented to exert dual actions as antimicrobials and antioxidants (Prachayasittikul et al, 2008(Prachayasittikul et al, , 2009(Prachayasittikul et al, , 2010(Prachayasittikul et al, , 2012Treeratanapiboon et al, 2011).…”

Panax ginsengRhodiola roseaandSchisandra chinensis

“…However, tumor cells can still survive under extreme conditions such as low oxygen and carbohydrate availability due to their relatively high tolerance to hostile environments. Similar to other herbs Li et al, 2007), Panax ginseng has reported to have anticancer effects both in vitro and in vivo Ni et al, 2010;Qi et al, 2010). The ability of Panax ginseng on cancer prevention was illustrated by a recent cohort study, in which Korean Red Ginseng (KRG) extract powder (1 g) was administered orally to each patient (n=643) with atrophic gastritis per week for 3 years and reports were followed up for 8 years (Yun et al, 2010).…”

Correlation of antioxidative properties and vaso-relaxation effects of major active constituents of traditional Chinese medicines

“…The absorbance (A original ) of individual compounds in methanol (without DPPH added) was measured so as to eliminate the "color interference" of each compound. The percentage free radical scavenging capacity (expressed as SR %) was calculated using the following equation (Li et al, 2007):…”

“…In contrast to most western medicines in which the therapeutic strategies are mainly based on the cause-and-effect principle (Li et al, 2007), the philosophy of the uses of TCM are simply based on a holistic and spatial perception of the individual with the environment (i.e., it is a quest for an overall restoration of the "upset equilibrium" of our body). Thus, with a completely different philosophical/therapeutic approach, TCM provides therapeutic effects through a multi-target organ strategy with an array of different mechanisms.…”