Resveratrol inhibits human breast cancer cell growth and may mitigate the effect of linoleic acid, a potent breast cancer cell stimulator

Resveratrol is a naturally occurring product found in grapes and wine. The effect of synthetic resveratrol on the growth of estrogen receptor (ER)-pos itive (KPL-1 and MCF-7) and -negative (MKL-F) human breast cancer cell line s was examined. Resveratrol at low concentrations caused cell proliferation in ER-positive lines (KPL-1, less than or equal to 22 muM; MCF-7, less tha n or equal to4 muM) whereas at high concentrations (less than or equal to 4 4 muM) it caused suppression of cell growth in all three cell lines examine d. Growth suppression was due to apoptosis as seen by the appearance of a s ub-G1 fraction. The apoptosis cascade up-regulated Bax and Bak protein, dow n-regulated Bcl-x(L) protein, and activated caspase-3. Resveratrol (52-74 m uM) antagonized the effect of linoleic acid, a potent breast cancer cell st imulator, and suppressed the growth of both ER-positive and -negative cell lines. Thus, resveratrol could be a promising anticancer agent for both hor mone-dependent and hormone-independent breast cancers, and may mitigate the growth stimulatory effect of linoleic acid in the Western-style diet.