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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BHNRC) » Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center » Diet, Genomics and Immunology Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #136112
Title: ANTHOCYANIN-RICH EXTRACT FROM ARONIA MELONCARPA E. INHIBITS GROWTH AND CYCLOOXYGENASE-2 GENE EXPRESSION IN HT-29 COLON CANCER CELLS.

Author
item MALIK, MINNIE - UMCP
item ZHAO, CUIWEI - UMCP
item Schoene, Norberta
item GUISTI, MONICA - UMCP
item MOYER, MARY - UMCP
item MAGNUSON, BERNADENE - UMCP

Submitted to: Nutrition and Cancer
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/5/2003
Publication Date: 12/1/2003
Citation: Malik, M., Zhao, C., Schoene, N.W., Guisti, M., Moyer, M.P., Magnuson, B.A. 2003. Anthocyanin-rich extract from aronia meloncarpa e. inhibits growth and cyclooxygenase-2 gene expression in ht-29 colon cancer cells.. Nutrition and Cancer.

Interpretive Summary: Plants contain numerous polyphenolic compounds that may have beneficial effects, when consumed, on cellular reactions that promote health and delay or inhibit the development of chronic diseases such as cancer and heart disease. To investigate the actions of polyphenolic compounds found in chokeberries (anthocyanins), an extract was prepared and tested for its ability to inhibit the growth of colon cancer cells grown in test tubes. The anthocyanin-rich extract inhibited the growth of the colon cancer cells by 60%. In contrast, the growth of a normal, non-cancerous cell line was not affected by the compounds in the extract. The results demonstrate that the anthocyanins in chokeberries are selective for inhibiting the pro-growth responses of cancer cells and not those of normal cells. These findings suggest that consumption of plant polyphenolic compounds lowers the potential for cancer cells to grow and overwhelm normal tissue cells in the body. In addition, this new information will benefit nutritional scientists and other researchers in the life sciences who are working to understand and explain the health-promoting mechanisms that are influenced by these dietary components.

Technical Abstract: Identification of anti-carcinogenic components in fruits and vegetables is the focus of considerable research. The phenolic flavonoid anthocyanins, which are rich in the fruit Aronia meloncarpa, are potential cancer chemo-preventive phytochemicals. A 24-h exposure of human HT-29 colon cancer cells to 50 micrograms/mL of a semi-purified extract of Aronia resulted in 60% inhibition of cell growth, blockage of the cell cycle at the G1/G0 and G2/M phases, and 32% inhibition of cyclooxygenase-2 gene expression; growth of NCM460 normal colon cells was <10% inhibited. These results support the need for further research to identify specific anthocyanins that suppress cancer cell function.