oregonin and thiazolyl-blue

Oregonin, a diarylheptanoid derivative from Alnus hirsuta Turcz, Betulaceae, was evaluated for its antitumor activity. Oregonin, known to have an antitumor function, and is a novel immunomodulator, which may augment macrophage activity. MTT assays and NO production tests were performed in order to investigate the cytotoxicity of oregonin in tumor cells and to examine its influence on macrophage in detail. In this study, the tumoricidal activity was also evaluated by a MTT assay. The cytotoxicity measurements in the oregonin-treated group both in vitro and in vivo showed a significant difference from that of the control group. In vivo, oregonin significantly increased NO production in a dose-dependent manner, and in vitro, the thioglycolate-induced inflammatory macrophages increased NO production in a dose-dependent manner after incubation. These results suggest that oregonin reacts with both the inflammatory and non-inflammatory macrophages in a similar way.

Topics: Animals; Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic; Cell Separation; Cytotoxicity Tests, Immunologic; Diarylheptanoids; In Vitro Techniques; Macrophages, Peritoneal; Male; Mice; Mice, Inbred ICR; Neoplasms; Neoplasms, Experimental; Nitric Oxide; Stimulation, Chemical; Tetrazolium Salts; Thiazoles; Tumor Cells, Cultured

We investigated the antitumor activity of oregonin, a diarylheptanoid derivative purified from Alnus hirsuta Turcz, Betulaceae. Oregonin is a potential novel immunomodulator, which augments the activation of natural killer (NK) cells, and thereby leads to a powerful antitumor activity. To evaluate the cytotoxicity of oregonin against tumor cells, we examined the effectiveness of NK cells and determined that oregonin could increase NK cell cytotoxicity. This was confirmed by MTT assay. In addition, the survival time of C57BL/6 mice were measured by inoculating B16-F10 melanoma cells to mice via intra muscular (i.m.) injection. Oregonin treatment after 10 hours of inoculation at 10 mg/kg dosage showed a significant extension of survival time by up to 51.32%, when compared to the control group. Moreover, oregonin significantly reduced the incidence of pulmonary metastasis, which may be developed from B16-F10 melanoma cells. These findings suggest that oregonin may be classified as a new and novel immunomodulator due to its potential antitumor activity.

Topics: Animals; Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic; Cell Separation; Cytotoxicity Tests, Immunologic; Diarylheptanoids; Killer Cells, Natural; Male; Melanoma, Experimental; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Mice, Inbred ICR; Neoplasm Metastasis; Stimulation, Chemical; Survival; Tetrazolium Salts; Thiazoles; Tumor Cells, Cultured