lupinifolin and flavanone

To search for possible cancer chemopreventive agents from natural sources, we performed primary screening of ten flavanones isolated from plants belonging to Rutaceae and Leguminosae by examining their possible inhibitory effects on Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) early antigen activation induced by 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate in Raji cells. All of the flavanones tested in this study showed inhibitory activity against EBV, without showing any cytotoxicity. Amorilin (3), which has three prenyl (3-methyl-2-butenyl) side-chains in the molecule, showed the most potent activity. Furthermore, lupinifolin (5) exhibited a marked inhibitory effect on mouse skin tumor promotion in an in vivo two-stage carcinogenesis test. These results indicate that some of these prenylated flavanones might be valuable as potential cancer chemopreventive agents (anti-tumor promoters).

Topics: Animals; Anticarcinogenic Agents; Carcinogens; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Female; Flavanones; Flavonoids; Herpesvirus 4, Human; Mice; Mice, Inbred ICR; Models, Chemical; Skin Neoplasms; Tetradecanoylphorbol Acetate; Time Factors