Effect of a plant-originated natural compound, CoD™ extract, on c-myc, Ha-ras and p53 gene expression in short-term animal experiments

Abstract

Several plant-originated natural compounds were shown to exhibit chemopreventive effect in carcinogenesis. In our studies, we have investigated CoD™ extract, a complex plant extract made from several tropical plants with possible cancer preventive effect in animal experiments. c-myc, p53 and Ha-ras gene expressions were investigated 24, 48 and 72 h after CoD™ extract and dimethylbenz(a)-anthracene (DMBA) treatment in CBA/Ca(H-2 K ) mice. CoD™ extract administered together with DMBA diminished c-myc, p53 and Ha-ras gene expressions both in the 24 and 48 h experiments, but not in the 72 h experiments. Further in vivo and human studies are needed to clarify the possible role of CoD™ extract in the prevention of tumour formation after carcinogenic exposures.