Department of Virology and Immunology, Maria Curie-Sklodowska University, Lublin, Poland.
Basic Clin Pharmacol Toxicol. 2009 Dec;105(6):425-32. doi: 10.1111/j.1742-7843.2009.00471.x. Epub 2009 Oct 12.
Betulin is a pentacyclic triterpene found in many plant species, among others, in white birch bark. The aim of the study was in vitro characterization of the anticancer activity of betulin in a range of human tumour cell lines (neuroblastoma, rhabdomyosarcoma-medulloblastoma, glioma, thyroid, breast, lung and colon carcinoma, leukaemia and multiple myeloma), and in primary tumour cultures isolated from patients (ovarian carcinoma, cervical carcinoma and glioblastoma multiforme). In this study, we demonstrated a remarkable anti-proliferative effect of betulin in all tested tumour cell cultures. Neuroblastoma (SK-N-AS) and colon carcinoma (HT-29) were the most sensitive to the anti-proliferative effect of betulin. Furthermore, betulin altered tumour cells morphology, decreased their motility and induced apoptotic cell death. These findings demonstrate the anti-cancer potential of betulin and suggest that they may be applied as an adjunctive measure in cancer treatment.
桦木醇是一种五环三萜，存在于多种植物物种中，包括白桦树皮。本研究的目的是体外研究桦木醇在一系列人类肿瘤细胞系（神经母细胞瘤、横纹肌肉瘤-髓母细胞瘤、神经胶质瘤、甲状腺、乳腺、肺和结肠腺癌、白血病和多发性骨髓瘤）以及从患者中分离的原发性肿瘤培养物中的抗癌活性。在这项研究中，我们证明了桦木醇在所有测试的肿瘤细胞培养物中具有显著的抗增殖作用。神经母细胞瘤（SK-N-AS）和结肠腺癌（HT-29）对桦木醇的抗增殖作用最为敏感。此外，桦木醇改变了肿瘤细胞的形态，降低了它们的迁移能力，并诱导了细胞凋亡。这些发现表明桦木醇具有抗癌潜力，并提示它们可作为癌症治疗的辅助手段。
