Considering the dearth of information regarding the medicinal properties of Luffa cylindrica, we assessed the antioxidative, antimutagenic and hyperplasia inhibitory activity of cancer cells from Luffa cylindrica extracts by employing biological and biochemical assays. Ethanol extracts of Luffa cylindrica inhibited MDA-BSA (malondialdehyde-bovine serum albumin) conjugation reaction (66.38±2.65), DPPH (1, 1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl) radical production (60.13±0.42) and lipid peroxidation (56.04±3.24). In this study, Luffa cylindrica is believed to exert possible antioxidative effects. The direct and indirect antimutagenic effects of the ethanol extracts of Luffa cylindrica were examined by the Ames test using Salmonella typimurium TA98 and TA100. The inhibitory effects on indirect and direct mutagenicity shows an weak tendency, particularly in direct mutagenicity mediated by 2-nitrofluorene in Salmonella typimurium TA98 (5.82±5.74) and in indirect mutagenicity mediated by 2-anthramine in Salmonella typimurium TA100 (5.76±2.15). The ethanol extracts of Luffa cylindrica on cancer cell hyperplasia inhibitory activity via MTT (3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5 diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay exerted cytotoxic effects on Hela cells (55.83±3.83) and MCF-7 cells (33.03±2.09), which were used in this study. Based on these results, it believed that the ethanol extracts of Luffa cylindrica have antioxidative capacities as well as hyperplasia inhibitory activity of cancer cells. Furthemore, Luffa cylindrica is a candidate for the prevention and dietetic treatment of chronic diseases and for the development of functional food.

The antimutagenic effects of juices and methanol extracts from cruciferous vegetables (cabbage, red cabbage, Korean cabbage, kale, cauliflower, broccoli, radish root, leafy radish, rape leaves and shepherd's purse) on the mutagenicity induced by aflatoxin B₁ (AFB₁) and N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine(MNNG) were studied using Salmonella assay system. In the case of juices from the cruciferous vegetables, the juices of cabbage, kale, cauliflower and radish root in the concentrations of 50, 200 and 500 ul/plate considerably decreased the mutagenicity induced by AFB₁, and the juices of cabbage and broccoli in the concentrations of 200 and 500 ul/plate significantly reduced the mutagenicity induced by MNNG. The antimutagenic activities of the juices against AFB₁ were stronger than those against MNNG. In the case of methanol extracts from the cruciferous vegetables, the methanol extracts of kale, broccoli and shepherd's purse appeared to inhibit the mutagenicity induced by AFB₁ and MNNG in Salmonella typhim,urium test strains. The effects of the juices against mutagens quite different from ones of the methanol extracts. The juice of cabbage showed antimutagenicity, but its methanol extract was less effective. However, both juices and methanol extracts from kale and broccoli exhibited strong antimutagenic activities against the mutagens.

Background: The present study was carried out to asses whether mulberry leaves (MLs) have the potential to inhibit the mutagenic effect of cigarette smoke condensates (CSCs). Methods and Results: ML powder was extracted with 70% ethanol, and a yield of 35.1% by weight was obtained. The 70% ethanol extract of ML was further extracted sequentially using diethyl ether, chloroform, butanol, dichloromethane and water. The crude 70% ethanol extract of MLs and its solvent fractions did not show any mutagenic effect when tested at concentrations up to 1 ㎎/ plate against Salmonella typhimurium TA98. In contrast, the crude 70% ethanol extract showed an inhibitory activity against the mutagenicity of CSCs in the presence of S-9 mixture. Among the solvent fractions, the diethyl ether fraction showed the highest inhibitory activity, which increased in a dose-dependent manner, inhibiting mutagenesis by approximately 97.1% at a concentration of 1㎎/plate. Conclusions: In this study, we found that a crude 70% ethanol extract of MLs and the diethyl ether fraction themselves are potentially not mutagenic, but inhibit the mutagenic effect of CSCs.

본 연구는 괴경 내부에 적색 및 보라색의 안토시아닌 색소를 함유한 유색감자의 추출물을 대상으로 S. typhimurium TA98과 TA100 균주의 돌연변이 유발여부를 확인하였고, 직접돌연변이원인 4-nitroquinoline-1-oxide(4-NQO)와 간접 돌연변이원인 bozo(a)pyrene(BaP)에 의해 유발될 수 있는 돌연변이에 대한 항돌연변이 활성과 6종의 인간 암세포주(전립선암세포주: LNCaP, 결장암 세포주: HCT-15와 SW-620, 위암 세포주: ACHN, 폐암 세포주: A549, 백혈병 세포주: MOLT-4F)를 대상으로 SRB 방법을 이용하여 항암활성을 비교하였다. 그 결과 유색감자 중 괴경 내부에 보라색의 안토시아닌을 다량 함유한 자영 품종이 다른 품종에 비해 높은 수준의 항돌연변이활성 및 항암활성을 나타내었으며, 특히 자영 품종의 추출물은 다른 세포주 보다 전립선암 세포주에 대한 항암활성이 특이적으로 우수한 양상을 확인하였다. 자영 품종의 추출물은 5ug/mL 이상의 농도에서 암세포의 증식을 억제할 뿐 아니라, 전립선암 세포주 LNCaP와 PC-3에 대해 세포사멸을 유발하는 결과를 Cell Death Detection ELISA와 TUNEL Assay로 확인하였고, 세포사멸과 연관된 유전자의 발현분석을 western blot으로 확인하였다. 이상의 결과에서 괴경 내부에 안토시아닌을 함유한 유색감자는 괴경 내부의 색상이 백색인 일반감자에 비해 강한 항돌연변이활성 및 항암활성을 나타내므로 유색감자는 기능성이 증대된 식용감자로서의 이용가치가 충분하며, 유색감자를 이용한 기능성식품 소재개발 및 의료산업의 신규소재화가 가능하리라 판단된다.

각 균주에 대하여 씀바귀 분말 시료들이 독성을 나타내지 않는 범위에서 강력한 발암물질로써 직접 변이원으로 사용된 MNNG(0.4μg/plate)의 경우 S. typhymurium TA100 균주에서 시료농도 100μg/plate에서 메탄올 추출물이 84.51%로 가장 높은 억제효과가 나타났으며, 4NQO(0.15μg/plate)에 대한 S. typhymurium TA98 균주에서 시료농도 100μg/plate에서는 물 분획물이 86.73%로 가장 높은 억제효과를 나타내었다 또한, TA100균주의 경우에는 부탄올 분획물에서 88.93%로 가장 높은 억제효과를 나타내었다. 간접변이원인 B(a)P를 사용한 실험에서 TA98 균주에서는 메탄올 추출물이 86.98%로 가장 높은 억제효과를 보였으며, TA100 균주에서는 부탄올 분획물이 75.35%로 가장 높은 억제효과를 나타냈다. 암세포주(A549, Hep3B, MCF-7)에 대한 씀바귀 분말의 증식 억제효과를 알아보기 위하여 실험한 결과, 폐암세포주인 A549세포에서는 핵산 분획물(500μg/ml)이 87.91%로 가장 높은 억제효과를 나타내었으며, 간암 세포주인 Hep3B 에서는 핵산 분획물(375μg/ml)이 70.64%로 가장 높은 억제효과를 나타냈다. 유방암 세포주인 MCF-7에서도 핵산 분획물(375μg/ml)이 82.89%로 가장 높은 억제효과를 보였으며, 인간 정상 간세포 293에 대해서는 24% 이하의 생육억제율을 보였다. 이는 암세포주에 대한 높은 억제효과에 비해 정상세포에 대해서는 비교적 낮은 증식 억제효과를 나타냄을 알 수 있었다.

This study was carried out to determine the antimutagenic effects of genistein on the somatic mutagenicity induced by aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), using Drosophila wing spot test system. Mutagen alone or mutagen with genistein were administered to the heterozygous(mwh/+) third instar larvae by feeding, and somatic cell mutations were detected in adult fly wing hairs. Genistein did not show any mutagenicity with the feeding concentrations of 5∼15% in the test system. As the feeding concentrations of genistein increased, genistein inhibited the mutagenicity induced by AFB1 (14.6%∼62.2% inhibition rate), while as the concentrations of AFB1 increased, small mwh spots that arise mostly from chromosome deletion and nondisjunction were more strongly suppressed by genistein than the large mwh spots from chromosomal recombination. In each group of different AFB1 concentrations, the rate of inhibition for total mwh spots was dependent on the dose of genistein. These results indicate that genistein have inhibitory effect on the mutagenicity induced by a mutagen, AFB1. It seems to suggest that genistein may exert inhibitory effects to mutagenic and/or carcinogenic properties of DNA damaging agents.