Ssf. Hsu et al., INHIBITORY EFFECT OF (-)-EPICATECHIN 4-BENZYLTHIOETHER ON THE GROWTH OF GLIOMA-CELLS IN CULTURE, PTR. Phytotherapy research, 10(8), 1996, pp. 643-646
The effect of (-)-epicatechin 4-benzylthioether (EC-BE) on the growth
of cultured rat glioma cells was investigated, EC-BE was found to prod
uce a concentration-dependent inhibitory effect on the growth of gliom
a cells, Inhibition was also observed in samples treated with (-)-epic
atechin acetoxymethyl ester (EC-AM), The original compound(-)-epicatec
hin, which gave rise to EC-AM and EC-BE, failed to produce a similar r
esult, Because both EC-BE and EC-AM are membrane permeable, while (-)-
epicatechin is not, the results indicated that the (-)-epicatechin and
its derivatives need to be intracellular in order to produce an effec
t, Moreover, it is demonstrated that EC-BE inhibited the incorporation
of [H-3]thymidine into DNA while the uptake of extracellular [H-3]thy
midine by glioma cells was not affected, The activities of redox enzym
es such as glutathione peroxidase and glutathione reductase were atten
uated in cells treated with EC-BE, These data suggest that EC-BE can i
nhibit the growth of glioma cells by affecting a redox pathway related
to the formation of DNA.