• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.8-15
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• 2008

Saussurea lappa (SL) has been used to reduce abdominal pain and tenesmus in traditional oriental medicine. SL and major compounds of SL, sesquiterpene lactones, have been suggested to possess various biological effects, including anti-tumor, anti-ulcer, anti-inflammatory, anti-viral and cardiotonic activities. Recently, it has been reported that ethanol extracts from roots of SL have antiproliferative effects on gastric cancer cells. To explore the possibility that SL has chemopreventive effects on prostate cancer, we examined whether the hexane extract of SL (HESL) inhibits the growth of LNCaP human prostate cancer cells. Cells were incubated with various concentrations ($0{\sim}4$ mg/L) of HESL in DMEM/F12 containing 5% charcoal stripped fetal bovine serum. HESL substantially decreased viable cell numbers and induced apoptosis of LNCaP cells in dose-dependent manners. HESL increased the levels of cleaved caspase-8, -9, -7 and -3, and poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase. HESL increased the levels of the pro-apoptotic Bak and truncated-Bid proteins whereas it had no effect on the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2, Bcl-xL, or Mcl-1. The present results indicate that HESL inhibits the growth of human prostate cancer cells by inducing apoptosis, which involves the activation of the caspase cascades.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.289-295
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• 1993

The present paper was investigated in the inhibitory action of vegetable and seaweed water-soluble extracts on the formation of carcinogenic N-nitrosodimethylamine(NDMA). The vegetable and seaweed extracts obtained from garlic(Allium sativum), onion(Allium cepa), green onion(Allium fistuiosum), chinese pepper(Fagara mandshurica), green pepper(Capsicum annuum), red pepper(Capsicum annuum), ginger(Zingiber officinale), carrot(Daucus carota), laver(Porphyra tenera), sea lettuce(Entero compresa), sea mustard(Undaria pinnatifida) and sea staghorn(Codium fragile) were incubated with sodium nitrite-dimethylamine mixtures at $37^{\circ}C$ under different pH conditions The formation of NDMA was reduced to $10{\sim}40\%\;and\;25{\sim}50\%$ by the addition of vegetable and seaweed extracts 30mg at pH 1.2, respectively. The inhibition degree by the extracts at pH 1.2 was similiar to that at pH 4.2 and to that by ascorbic acid at pH 1.2. The inhibitory action of the extracts against NDMA formation was not decreased by heat treatment at $80^{\circ}C$ for 10min, but decreased by the treatment of sodium borohydride. It is assumed that reducing powers of the extracts participated in their inhibitory actions.