COMPOSITIONS FROM SOLANUM MURICATUM (PEPINO) WHICH INDUCE TUMOR CELL APOPTOSIS

摘要

The invention relates to the use of an aqueous extract of the plant Solanummuricatum (CSG) to prepare a pharmaceutical composition useful to selectiveinhibittumor growth both in vivo and in vitro. The LD50 value is 561-825 µg/ml. Incontrast,CSG showed a much lower cytotoxity to human normal cells, with LD50 value 2.8-3.2mg/ml, 3-6 fold higher than tumor cells. CSG-mediated tumor growth inhibitionisthrough induction of apoptosis as manifested by (i) typical apoptoticmorphology; (ii)DNA ladder formation; and (iii) PARP cleavage assay. The present inventionrepresentsnew compounds which preferentially target tumor cells by triggering apoptosis.CSG maybe used either as a drink, with or without additional ingredients, ortransformed into acapsule.