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Natural antimutagenic agents
L A Mitscher1, H Telikepalli, E McGhee
1Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Kansas University, Lawrence, USA.
Abstract:
Following a brief review of recent discoveries in the field of natural antimutagenic and tumor chemopreventive agents, contemporary findings in the author's laboratories employing the direct acting mutagen, ethyl methanesulfonate, in modified Ames tests and eukaryotic murine FM3A mammary tumor cells modified to be subject to thymidine-less death are described to illustrate the underlying principles. The EMS studies are illustrated with the isolation of the novel antimutagen, plicatin B, from the medicinal plants, Psoralea juncaea and P. plicata. The FM3A studies are carried out with extracts of Styrax asiatica, a plant previously studied extensively with the EMS system. The FM3A findings closely parallel the earlier work with EMS showing that the responsible agents, cinnamic acid, cinnamoyl ricinoleate and cinnamoyl cinnamate are effective both in prokaryotic and eukaryotic tests and that the new FM3A assay system has useful properties for screening and assay of novel antimutagenic agents.
Insights
Researchers identified novel antimutagenic compounds from medicinal plants. These natural agents show promise in protecting against mutagens in both bacterial and mammalian cell tests, highlighting new screening methods.
Area of Science:
- Natural Products Chemistry
- Chemoprevention Research
- Mutagenesis and Antimutagenesis
Background:
- Growing interest in natural compounds for cancer prevention and reducing mutagenicity.
- Previous studies explored medicinal plants for antimutagenic properties.
- Need for robust screening systems for novel chemopreventive agents.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate contemporary findings on natural antimutagenic and chemopreventive agents.
- To illustrate underlying principles using ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS) and murine FM3A cells.
- To evaluate the efficacy of isolated compounds and plant extracts in modified test systems.
Main Methods:
- Utilized modified Ames tests with the direct-acting mutagen ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS).
- Employed eukaryotic murine FM3A mammary tumor cells sensitive to thymidine-less death.
- Isolated and tested novel antimutagen plicatin B from Psoralea species; analyzed Styrax asiatica extracts.
Main Results:
- Successfully isolated plicatin B, a novel antimutagen, from Psoralea juncaea and P. plicata.
- Extracts from Styrax asiatica demonstrated antimutagenic activity in FM3A cells, paralleling EMS studies.
- Identified cinnamic acid, cinnamoyl ricinoleate, and cinnamoyl cinnamate as active agents effective in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic systems.
Conclusions:
- Natural compounds like plicatin B, cinnamic acid, and its derivatives possess significant antimutagenic properties.
- The murine FM3A cell assay system is effective for screening and assaying novel antimutagenic agents.
- Findings support the potential of these natural agents and assay systems for chemoprevention research.