[Biological activity of urocanic acid]

Biological activity of urocanic acid was studied in a culture of CaOV cell in vitro and in mice with transferred tumors in vivo. Efficiency of urocanic acid in vitro was estimated by the rate of 3H-thymidine and 3H-uridine as well as 3H-lysine incorporation into cells, and in vivo by its influence on the tumor mass and on life duration of the tumor-bearing mice. Urocanic acid inhibited the protein synthesis in tumoral cells at the step of translation, retarding growth of various strains of transferring tumors in mice. The use of urocanic acid as an antitumoral drug is promising because the palliative effect obtained may be reinforced.