University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan.
Integr Cancer Ther. 2013 May;12(3):257-63. doi: 10.1177/1534735412458827. Epub 2012 Oct 21.
Epstein--Barr virus (EBV) is a human virus with oncogenic potentials that is implicated in various human diseases and malignancies. In this study, the modulator activity of the potent herbal extract drug thymoquinone on EBV was assessed in vitro. Thymoquinone was tested for cytotoxicity on human cells of lymphoblastoid cells, Raji Burkitt's lymphoma, DG-75 Burkitt's lymphoma, peripheral blood mononuclear cells, and periodontal ligament fibroblast. Apoptosis induction was analyzed via TUNEL assay and activity studies of caspase-3. The effect of thymoquinone on EBV gene expression was determined using real-time polymerase chain reaction. We report here, for the first time, a promising selective inhibitory affect of thymoquinone on EBV-infected B cell lines in vitro, compared with lower activity on EBV negative B cell line and very low toxicity on human peripheral blood mononuclear cells and periodontal ligament fibroblasts. Moreover, the drug was found to efficiently suppress the RNA expression of EBNA2, LMP1, and EBNA1 genes. Specifically, EBNA2 expression levels were the most affected indicating that this gene might have a major contribution to thymoquinone potency against EBV infected cells. Overall, our results suggest that thymoquinone has the potential to suppress the growth of EBV-infected B cells efficiently.
EB 病毒（EBV）是一种具有致癌潜能的人类病毒，与多种人类疾病和恶性肿瘤有关。在这项研究中，评估了强效草药提取物药物百里醌对 EBV 的调节剂活性。在体外，对淋巴母细胞、Raji 伯基特淋巴瘤、DG-75 伯基特淋巴瘤、外周血单核细胞和牙周膜成纤维细胞的人类细胞进行了百里醌的细胞毒性测试。通过 TUNEL 测定和 caspase-3 活性研究分析细胞凋亡诱导。使用实时聚合酶链反应确定了百里醌对 EBV 基因表达的影响。我们在这里首次报告，与 EBV 阴性 B 细胞系相比，百里醌对 EBV 感染的 B 细胞系具有有希望的选择性抑制作用，而对人类外周血单核细胞和牙周膜成纤维细胞的活性较低，毒性也非常低。此外，该药物被发现能够有效地抑制 EBNA2、LMP1 和 EBNA1 基因的 RNA 表达。具体而言，EBNA2 表达水平受影响最大，表明该基因可能对百里醌抑制 EBV 感染细胞的效力有重大贡献。总体而言，我们的结果表明，百里醌具有有效抑制 EBV 感染 B 细胞生长的潜力。
