The Inhibitory Effect of Leek (Buchu) Kimchi Extracts on MCA-induced Cytoxicity and Transformation in C3H-10T1/2 Cells

The anticarcinogenic effects of the methanol extracts from leek (buchu in Korean) kimchi and Korean cabbage kimchi were evaluated using cytotoxicity and transformation tests in C3H/10T1/2 cells. Various fractions of the 6-day fermented leek kimchi at 15$^{\circ}C$, hexane, methanol soluble, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate, butanol and aqueous fraction, were also studied in the same system. The inhibitory effect of the leek kimchi(6-day fermented at 15$^{\circ}C$, pH 4.29) was higher than that of the Korean cabbage kimchi(4-day fermented at 15$^{\circ}C$, pH 4.21) on the cytotoxicity induced by 3-methylcholanthrane (MCA) in the C3H/10T1/2 cell system. While the MCA-treated culture(control) formed 21.0 foci of type II plus III in C3H/10T1/2 cells, 100$\mu\textrm{g}$/ml of the methanol extract of the leek kimchi and that of the 4-day fermented Korean cabbage kimchi treated cultures reduced the formation of type II plus III foci to 7.4 and 11.3, respectively. Among the fractions of the leek kimchi, the dichloromethane fraction showed the highest inhibitory effect on MCA-induced cytotoxicity in C3H/10T1/2 cells. Fifty $\mu\textrm{g}$/ml of dichloromethane fraction from the leek kimchi suppressed the MCA-induced cytotoxicity by 77%. On the transformation test using MCA, the dichloromethane fraction considerably reduced the formation of type II plus III foci, especially thpe III foci. When 50$\mu\textrm{g}$/ml of dichloromethane fraction from the leek kimchi was treated, the numbers of type III foci mediated by MCA were decreased to 1.7 compared to 10 for the control. These results indicate that leek kimchi has stronger anticarcinogenic effects than Korean cabbage kimchi and that the dichloromethane fraction of the leek kimchi may contain the major compound(s) that suppress the carcinogenesis in the eukaryotic cells.