Inhibitory Effects of Kimchi Extracts on the Growth and DNA Synthesis of Human Cancer Cells

Effect of solvent extracts and juice supernatants from kimchis on the growth of various human cancer cells was studied, comparing with the actions on the normal cells. Inhibitory effect of kimchi extracts on[3H] thymidine incorporation n cancer cells was also investigated. The methanol extract, hexane extract and methanol soluble fraction (MSF) of 3-week fermented kimchi did not have growth inhibitory effect on Ac2F rat normal liver cells at the concentrations of 0.5~2%. However, marked decrease in the growth of AGS human gastric cancer cells was shown by the treatment of those extacts. The juice from the kimchi samples also suppressed the growth of K-562 human leukemia cells and MG-63 human osteosarcoma cells. Especially, the juice of 3-week fermented kimchi exhibited the strong growth inhibitory effect in MG-63 human osteosarcoma cells. At the photomicrographs, growth inhibition and morphological change of the cells treated with kimchi juice were observed. And the solvent extracts of 3-week fermented kimchi suppressed the growth of cancer morethan the extracts or juices from fresh and 6-week fermented kimchi. When AGS human gastric cancer cels were treated with the extracts of 3-week fermented kimchi, [3H] thymidine incorporation in the cells also decreased. These results showed that kimchi extracts and juices had growth inhibitory effects on human osteosarcoma, leukemia and gastric cancer cells, but had no toxicity to the normal cells. We suggest that kimchi might have anticancer effect in part due to inhibition of the growth and DNA synthesis of cancer cells.