Crocin, safranal and picrocrocin from saffron (Crocus sativus L.) inhibit the growth of human cancer cells in vitro

Cancer Letters

Volumn 100, Issue 1-2, 1996, Pages 23-30

  Escribano, Julio ^a   Alonso, Gonzalo Luis ^a   Coca Prados, Miguel ^b   Fernández, José Antonio ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF CASTILLA LA MANCHA   (Spain)

^b YALE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE   (United States)

Author keywords

Antitumor activity; Crocin; Cytotoxicity; Saffron

Indexed keywords

ANTINEOPLASTIC AGENT; CROCIN; PICROCROCIN; PLANT EXTRACT; SAFRANAL; UNCLASSIFIED DRUG;

APOPTOSIS; ARTICLE; CANCER CELL; CANCER INHIBITION; CELL NUCLEUS; CELL SIZE; CONTROLLED STUDY; CYTOPLASM; CYTOTOXICITY; DRUG ISOLATION; HUMAN; HUMAN CELL; PRIORITY JOURNAL;

EID: 0030047682     PISSN: 03043835     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/0304-3835(95)04067-6     Document Type: Article

References (28)

1. Abdullaev, F.I. (1993) Biological effects of saffron. BioFactors, 4, 83-86.
2. Dragsted, L.O., Strube, M. and Larsen, J.C. (1993) Cancer-protective factors in fruits and vegetables: biochemical and biological background. Pharmacol. Toxicol., 72 (Suppl. 1), 116-135.
3. Rogers, A.E., Zeisel, S.H. and Groopman, J. (1993) Diet and carcinogenesis. Carcinogenesis, 14, 2205-2217.
4. Unnikrishnan, M.C. and Kuttan, R. (1988) Cytotoxicity of extracts of spices to cultured cells. Nutr. Cancer, 11, 251-256.
5. Aruna, K. and Silvaramakrishnan, V.H. (1990) Plant products as protective agents against cancer. Indian J. Exp. Biol., 28, 1008-1011.
6. Unnikrishnan, M.C. and Kuttan, R. (1990) Tumor reducing and anticarcinogenic activity of selected spices. Cancer Lett., 51, 85-87.
7. Abdullaev, F.I. and Frenkel, G.D. (1992) The effect of saffron on intracellular DNA, RNA and protein synthesis in malignant and non-malignant human cells. Biofactors, 4, 43-45.
8. Abdullaev, F.I. and Frenkel, G.D. (1992) Effect of saffron on cell colony formation and cellular nucleic acid and protein synthesis. Biofactors, 3, 201-204.
9. Salomi, M.J., Nair, S.C. and Panikkar, K.R. (1991) Inhibitory effects of Nigella sativa and saffron (Crocus sativus) on chemical carcinogenesis in mice. Nutr. Cancer, 16, 67-72.
10. Alonso, G.L., Salinas, M.R., Esteban-Infantes, F.J. and Sanchez-Fernandez, M.A. (1995) Determination of safranal from saffron (Crocus sativus L.) by thermal desorption-gas chromatography. J. Food Sci., in press.
11. Lin, J.K. and Wang, C.J. (1986) Protection of crocin dyes on the acute hepatic damage induced by aflatoxin B1 and dimethylnitrosamine in rats. Carcinogenesis, 7, 595-599.
12. Abdullaev, F.I. (1994) Inhibitory effect of crocetin on intracellular nucleic acid and protein synthesis in malignant cells. Toxicol. Lett., 70, 243-251.
13. Tarantilis, P.A., Morjani, H., Polissou, M. and Manfait, M. (1994) Inhibition of growth and induction of differentiation of promyelocytic leukemia (HL-60) by carotenoids from Crocus sativus L. Anticancer Res., 14, 1913-1918.
14. Buchecker, R. and Eugster, C.H. (1973) Absolute konfiguration von picrocrocin. Helv. Chim. Acta, 56, 1121-1124.
15. Corradi, C. and Micheli, G. (1979) Determinazione spettrofotometrica del potere colorante, amaricante ed odoroso dello zafferano. Boll. Chim. Farm., 118, 553-562.
16. Speranza, G. and G. Dadà (1984) 13-cis-crocin: a new crocinoid of saffron. Gazzetta Chim. Ital., 114, 189-191.
17. Plumb, J.A., Milroy, R. and Kaye, S.B. (1989) Effects of the pH dependence of 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide-formazan absorption on chemosensitivity determined by a novel tetrazolium-based assay. Cancer Res., 49, 4435-4440.
18. Lasnitzki, I. (1992) Organ culture. In: Animal Cell Culture. A Practical Approach, pp. 213-261, Editor: R.I. Freshneys. IRL Press, Oxford.
19. Tarantilis, P.A., Tsoupras, G. and Polissou, M. (1995) Determination of saffron (Crocus sativus L.) components in crude plant extract using high-performance liquid chromatography-UV-visible photodiode-array detection-mass spectrometry. J. Chromatogr. A, 699, 107-118.
20. Sarma, K.S., Maesato, K. Hara, T. and Sonoda, Y. (1990) In vitro production of stigma-like structures from stigma explants of Crocus sativus L. J. Exp. Bot., 41, 745-748.
21. Nair, S.C., Pannikar, B. and Pannikar, K.R. (1991) Antitumor activity of saffron (Crocus sativus). Cancer Lett., 57, 109-114.
22. Alonso, G.L., Varón, R., Navarro, F. and Salinas, M.R. (1990) Autooxidation in saffron at 40°C and 75% relative humidity. J. Food Sci., 55, 595-596.
23. Schwartz, J. and Shklar, G. (1992) The selective cytotoxic effect of carotenoids and α-tocopherol on human cancer cells lines in vitro. J. Oral Maxillofac. Surg., 50, 367-373.
24. Schwartz, J.L. (1993) In vitro biological methods for determination of carotenoid activity. Methods Enzymol., 214, 226-256.
25. Wyllie, A.H. (1992) Apoptosis and the regulation of cell numbers in normal and neoplastic tissues: an overview. Cancer Metastasis Rev., 11, 95-103.
26. Bjelke, E. (1975) Dietary vitamin A and human lung cancer. Int. J. Cancer, 15, 561-565.
27. Newberne, P.M. and Rogers, A.E. (1981) Vitamin A, retinoids and cancer. In: Nutrition and Cancer: Etiology and Treatment, pp. 217-232. Editors: G.R. Newell and N.M. Ellisons. Raven Press, New York.
28. Gerster, H. (1993) Anticarcinogenic effect of common carotenoids. Int. J. Nutr. Res, 63, 92-121.