Effects of oil palm phenolics on tumor cells in vitro and in vivo.

Abstract

The effects of oil palm phenolics (OPP) on cell lines were demonstrated in this study. OPP dosedependent studies in selected cell cultures showed that OPP inhibited the proliferation of mouse IgAsecreting myeloma (J558), estrogen-receptor-positive human breast adenocarcinoma (MCF7) and human lung carcinoma (A549) cells at all doses. However, OPP enhanced the proliferation of Madin Darby Canine Kidney (MDCK) and Aedes albopictus larvae (C6/36) cells at all concentrations, whereas, growth of Syrian Baby Hamster Kidney (BHK) cells was only enhanced with low doses of OPP. 5% OPP in combination with 5% fetal calf serum (FCS) was shown to be as effective as 10% FCS on the growth of BHK and A549 cells. In vivo studies using J558 myeloma cells showed that OPP caused tumor regression. These findings imply that OPP has anti-proliferative effects on tumor cells in vitro and in vivo, but conversely enhances the growth of normal cells.