Abstrait

Effect of procyanidins from Pinus koraiensis bark on growth inhibition and expression of PCNA and TNF-α in mice with U14 cervical cancer

Kun Li, Qingwang Li, Jian Li, Dawei Gao, Tao Zhang, Zengsheng Han and Fulu Zheng

Background: An important recent advance in anticancer therapy was the development of specifc herbal medicines. Pharmacologic studies revealed that pinus bark extract not only contains favorable nutrition, but also has antitumor, antioxidant, anti-aging and antimutation activity.

Aim: The aim of the study was to identify the potential antitumor effects of Pinus koraiensis bark procyanidins extract (PKBPE) on tumor weight, the content of IL-8 and TNF-α by ELISA in serum and expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and Bcl-2 protein on mice with U14 cervical cancer.

Participants: A total of 50 female Kunming mice were provided by the Animal Department of Beijing Institute of Traditional medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Results: A dose of PKBPE (163 and 262 mg/kg body weight, per os) could inhibit U14 cervical carcinoma growth. In addition, PKBPE increases the content of TNF-α and decrease the content of IL-8 in mice bearing U14 cervical cancer (p < 0.01). Furthermore, PKBPE treatment significantly inhibited the expression of PCNA and Bcl-2 protein (p < 0.01).

Conclusion: The results suggested that PKBPE showed antitumor activities in U14 cervical carcinoma mice. The mechanism of PKBPE antitumor activity might be associated with immune-modulation activity and regulation of the expression of PCNA and Bcl-2 protein.