• C Guruvayoorappan and Girija Kuttan.
• Department of Immunology, Amala Cancer Research Centre, Amala Nagar, Thrissur, Kerala, India.
• Integr Cancer Ther. 2007 Dec 1; 6 (4): 373-80.

AbstractThe present study is part of a large-scale investigation of the antitumor effects of Biophytum sensitivum on B16F-10 melanoma cells. The investigation involved the regulatory effect of B sensitivum on nitric oxide and cytokine production in B16F-10 cells, tumor-associated macrophages, and peritoneal macrophages as well as on the apoptotic process in B16F-10 melanoma cells. B sensitivum at a concentration of 10 microg/mL could significantly (P< .001) inhibit production of nitric oxide and proinflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-1beta, interleukin-6, granulocyte monocyte-colony stimulating factor, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha in B16F-10 cells, tumor-associated macrophages, and peritoneal macrophages. Incubation of B16F-10 cells with B sensitivum showed the presence of apoptotic bodies and induced DNA fragmentation. Furthermore, B sensitivum showed an inhibitory effect on inducible nitric oxide synthase as well as bcl-2 expression, and up-regulated p53 and caspase-3 messenger RNA expression in B16F-10 melanoma cells. The observed results suggest that regulation of proinflammatory cytokine production by tumor cells, tumor-associated macrophages, and resident macrophages accompanied by altered inducible nitric oxide synthase, bcl-2, caspase-3, and p53 messenger RNA expression by B sensitivum methanol extract induces apoptosis in B16F-10 melanoma cells.

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