王瓜根有效活性成份对鼻咽癌细胞的杀伤作用

Studies on the Anticancer Effect of Active Compounds from Trichosanthes Cucumeroides

本实验通过对王瓜根的提取、分离和鉴定，证实王瓜根含有葫芦素结晶Ｂ和Ｅ。通过观察王瓜根提取物在体外对人淋巴细胞及鼻咽癌细胞的作用，发现用王瓜根分离的葫芦素Ｂ，Ｅ２０μｇ／ｍｌ，对癌细胞的杀伤率为８２．６％，浓度提高至８０μｇ／ｍｌ时，其杀伤率达９４．１％，而对正常人淋巴细胞转化率的影响则分别为９０．６％及８９．５％，表明王瓜根葫芦素Ｂ，Ｅ对鼻咽癌细胞具有较强的杀伤作用，是王瓜根抗癌的有效活性成分，它同时能促进正常淋巴细胞的转化功能，因而有较好的临床应用价值。王瓜根原汁对鼻咽癌细胞的杀伤力较葫芦素Ｂ，Ｅ强，但对淋巴细胞也有明显的杀伤作用。加热后的王瓜根原汁杀癌细胞作用较原汁低，表明王瓜根毒蛋白也是一种抗癌有效成份。

he root-tubers of Trichosanthes cucumeroides Maxim have been used in Chinese medicine for over a thousandyears. Clinical evidences demonstrated that this plant may be useful in treating patients suffering from malignant diseases. By chemical purification and identification, one principle active component in T. cucumeroides which possessesstrong anti-cancer activities has been successfully purified and identified. It belongs to a family of compounds collectively called cucurbitacin. Results showed that cucurbitacin from T. cucumeroides was particularly effective against nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) cells in vitro. When the cucurbitacin concentration was 20 g/ml, the cytotoxic ratewas 82. 6 %. If the concentration was incresed to 80 g/ml. the cytotoxic rate was 94. 1 %. while similar dosage ofpurified compounds did not show any effect on the normal lymphocytes.With further characterizations and better purifications, there is a possibility of developing the compounds into amedicine in treating cancer patients.