Cytotoxicity, Apoptosis and DNA Damage Induced by Alpinia galanga Rhizome Extract

Abstract

Alpinia galanga, or galangal, has been a popular condiment used in Thai and Asian cuisine for many years. However, relatively little is known of the potential beneficial or adverse health effects of this spice. This study was conducted to analyze the capacity of galangal extract to induce cytotoxicity and DNA damage in six different human cell lines including normal and p53-inactive fibroblasts, normal epithelial and tumour mammary cells and a lung adenocarcinoma cell line. We deliberately focused on treatment with the crude aqueous extract of galangal rhizomes, rather than compounds extracted into an organic solvent, to more closely reflect the mode of dietary consumption of galangal. The cell lines displayed a broad range of cytotoxicity. There was no evidence for preferential cytotoxicity of tumour cells, but there was an indication that p53-active cell lines may be more sensitive than their p53-inactive counterparts. The contribution of apoptosis to total cell killing was only appreciable after exposure to 300 microg/mL of extract. Apoptosis appeared to be independent of p53 expression. Exposure to as little as 100 microg/mL galangal extract generated a significant level of DNA single-strand breaks as judged by the single-cell gel electrophoresis technique (comet assay). The three major UV-absorbing compounds in the aqueous extract were identified by mass spectrometry as 1'-acetoxychavicol acetate and its deacetylated derivatives. However, when tested in A549 human lung adenocarcinoma cells, these compounds were not responsible for the cytotoxicity induced by the complete aqueous extract.

Mitochondrial activation by inhibition of PDKII suppresses HIF1a signaling and angiogenesis in cancer

“…To assess the effects of DCA on a more aggressive tumor model, we injected rats with CRL-2335 mammary carcinoma cells, a cell line that has low expression of p53 37 (Supplementary Figure 1b). When injected with the same number of cells, these animals developed larger tumors at a faster rate compared with nSCLC cells, but DCA decreased both the size and the vascularity of these tumors as well ( Supplementary Figures 1c and d).…”

An ethnobotanical study of traditional anti-inflammatory plants used by the Lohit community of Arunachal Pradesh, India

“…and applied in local inflammation and skin allergy caused by insect bites or microbes Anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, anticancer, cytotoxicity (Satish and Dhananjayan, 2003;Mayachiew and Devahastin, 2008;Maungnoi et al, 2007), limonene, 1,8-cineole, camphor, ␣-terpineol, ␣-pinene, camphene, ␤-pinene (Mallavarapu et al, 2002) Aqa: aquatic, Fw: freshwater, C: common, R: rare, ENR: endangered, H: herb, EH: epiphytic herb, Sr: shrub, Tr: tree, Liv: liverworths, Mos: mosses, ST: subtropical, T: tropical, Tm: temperate, RB: root bark, SB: shoot bark, L: leaves, S: seeds, Y/s: young shoot, W/p: whole plant, Rh: rhizome, Tb: tuber. a Use frequency (%) refers to percentage of people that use the plant in relation to total interviewees (N = 70 informants).…”

Anti‐inflammatory activity of p‐coumaryl alcohol‐γ‐O‐methyl ether is mediated through modulation of interferon‐γ production in Th cells

“…While CAME had no effect on Th cell activation, CDA changed cell morphology of primary CD4+ Th cells upon TCR stimulation (data not shown). Further analysis confirmed that CDA dose‐dependently increased cell apoptosis (Figure 3A) and decreased cell viability of primary CD4+ Th cells (Figure 3C), supporting a pro‐apoptotic activity by acetoxylated phenylpropanoids (Muangnoi et al. , 2007).…”