ISOLATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF A CYCLIC HYDROXAMIC ACID FROM A POLLEN EXTRACT, WHICH INHIBITS CANCEROUS CELL-GROWTH IN-VITRO

One fraction, designated FV-7, in the water soluble ingredient of the pollen extract Cernilton was found to be inhibitory to the growth of a prostate cancer cell line. Characterization of FV-7 by high-resolutio n mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance identified the frac tion as hydroxamic acid, 2,4-dihydroxy-2H-1,4-benzoxazin-3(4H)-one (DI BOA). To confirm this further, we synthesized an authentic sample of D IBOA and found subsequently that the synthetic DIBOA was structurally indistinguishable from FV-7. Furthermore, in a separate experiment we compared the in vitro effects of FV-7 and DIBOA on the growth of a pro state cancer cell line and found that in both cases the effect was inh ibitory and that the inhibition curves obtained for both compounds wer e virtually identical.