Cancer chemopreventive activity of odorine and odorinol from Aglaia odorata

In the course of our continuing search for novel cancer chemo-preventive ag ents from natural sources, we have carried out a primary screening in vitro assay of the compounds isolated from Aglaia odorata. Consequently. aminopy rrolidine-diamides, odorine and odorinol, were obtained as active constitue nts. These compounds exhibited potent anti-carcinogenic effects in a two-st age carcinogenesis test of mouse skin induced by 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthra cene (DMBA) as an initiator and 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) as a promoter. Further, both compounds showed remarkable inhibitory effects in two-stage mouse skin carcinogenesis models induced by nitric oxide (NO) donors such as (+/-)-(E)-methyl-2-[(E)-hydroxyimino]-5-nitro-6-methoxy-3-h exenamide (NOR-1) or peroxynitrite as an initiator and TPA as a promoter. F rom these results, it was concluded that odorine and odorinol inhibited bot h the initiation and promotion stages of two-stage skin carcinogenesis.