Abstract
Extracts from pods and leaves of carob ( Ceratonia siliqua L .) were tested for their ability to inhibit cell proliferation of mouse hepatocellular carcinoma cell line (T1). The two extracts showed a marked alteration of T1 cell proliferation in a dose-related fashion reaching the maximal effect at 1 mg/ml. Moreover, we demonstrated that leaf and pod extracts were able to induce apoptosis in T1 cell lines after 24-h treatment mediating a direct activation of the caspase 3 pathway. HPLC analysis revealed the presence of gallic acid, (−) epigallocatechin-3-gallate and (−) epicatechin-3-gallate in pod and leaf extracts, compounds well known to exert antiproliferative effects. Their concentration reached 6.28 mg/g in carob leaves and 1.36 mg/g in carob pods extract. The discovery that carob pod and leaf extracts contained antiproliferative agents could be of practical importance in the development of functional foods and/or chemopreventive drugs.
Highlights
Ceratonia siliqua L. is a typical plant of the Mediterranean area, which is mainly used in the food industry as source of gum extracted from the seeds
Our results showed that carob leaves extract produced an inhibition of T1 cell proliferation significantly higher than that produced by carob pods extract at all the concentrations tested
This effect seems to be related to the induction of apoptosis, since the leaf and pod extracts showed, even if with different potency, a significant increase of caspase-3 activity compared to that found in the control cells
Summary
Ceratonia siliqua L. is a typical plant of the Mediterranean area, which is mainly used in the food industry as source of gum extracted from the seeds. L. Corsi et al / Fitoterapia 73 (2002) 674–684 contains among total polyphenols a high level of proanthocyanidins in comparison to hydrolysable ones represented by ellagitannins and gallotannins w1x. Interest has focused on flavonoids potential benefits to human health, as they are ubiquitously present in foods of plant origin and some epidemiological studies evidenced that the consumption of foods rich in these compounds could reduce the risk for certain types of cancer and heart diseases mortality w2–5x. In this context, it has been shown that oral consumption of polyphenols offers protection against all stages of carcinogenesis w5,6x. Several mechanisms of anticancer activity of catechins have been postulated, such as an inhibition of urokinase w7x, inhibition of angiogenesis w8x and inhibition of cell growth and proliferation processes w9x, but none seem universal for all cancers
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