Abstract□Panax ginseng has been extensively used in the traditional oriental medicine as a restorative, tonic and prophylactic agent. Recently, several reports regarding to anticancer effects of Panax ginseng has accumulated, These studies
emphasized
the fact that the anticancer activities might be due to a glycoside group called ginsenoside or saponin which has a water soluble characteristic. However, the authors and collaborates deomonstrated that a highly lipid soluble component in extract
of
panax ginseng roots contains a considerable cytotoxic activities against murine leukemic cells (L1210, P388) and human cancer cells (HRT-18, HT-29, HCT-48). This sutdy was devised to observe the cytotoxic activities of petroleum-ether extract of
Panax
ginseng roots(crude GX) and its partially purified fraction from silicic acid column chromatography (7:3 GX) against sarcoma-180 (S-180) and Walker carcinosarcoma 256 (Walker 256) in vivo, and murine leukemic lymphocytes (L1210) and human rectal
cancer
cells (HRT-18) and human colon cancer cells (HT-29 and HCT-48) in vitro. Each cell-line was cultured in medium containing serial concentration of the crude GX or 7: 3 GX in vitro. A highly lipid soluble compound in the extract of Panax ginseng
root
was
cytocidal to murine leukemic cells and human colon and rectal cancer cells in vitro. In the meantime, ginseng saponin derivatives did not have cytotoxic effects at its corresponding concentration. The growth rates of the cancer cells in medium
containing ginseng extracts were inhibited gradually to a significant degree roughly in proportion to the increase of the extract concentration. The cytotoxic activity of 7: 3 GX was about 3 times more potent than that of crude GX, one unit of
cytotoxic
activity against L1210 cells being equivalent to 2.54 μg and 0.88μg for the crude GX and 7: 3 GX, respectively, The Rf value of the active compound on silicagel thin layer chromatography with petroleum-ether/ethyl ether/acetic acid mixture (90:
10: 1,
v/v/v) as a developing solvent was 0.23. While, the Panaxydol and Panaxynol as active compounds were purified from petroleum-ether extract of Panax ginseng root by Drs. Ahn and Kim, and author found out that the one unit of cytotoxic activity of
the
Panaxydol and Panaxynol against L1210 cell being equivalent to 0.26 μg and 0.39μg, respectively, The survival times of mice inoculated with S-180 cells were extended about 1.5 to 2 times by the 7: 3 GX treatment compared with their control
group.
The
significantly decreased hemoglobin values of rats after inoculation with Walker 256 were recovered to normal range by oral administration of the crude GX. The synthetic levels of protein, DNA and RNA in human colon and rectal cancer cells
significantly
diminished by treatment with the crude GX, which can explain a part of the origin of its anticancer activity.
|