Inhibitory effects of lemon grass (Cymbopogon citratus, Stapf) extract on the early phase of hepatocarcinogenesis after initiation with diethylnitrosamine in male Fischer 344 rats.

Effects of lemon grass extract (LGE) on hepatocarcinogenesis were examined in male Fischer 344 rats, administered diethylnitrosamine (DEN) at three weekly intraperitoneal doses of 100 mg/kg body weight and partially hepatectomized at the end of week 5. LGE was given at dietary concentrations of 0, 0.2, 0.6 or 1.8% from the end of week 4 for 10 weeks. All rats were sacrificed at the end of week 14. LGE reduced the number of putatively preneoplastic, glutathione S-transferase placental form-positive lesions and the level of oxidative hepatocyte nuclear DNA injury, as assessed in terms of 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine production. In contrast, LGE did not affect the size of the preneoplastic lesions, hepatocyte proliferative activity, activities of phase II enzymes or hepatocyte extra-nuclear oxidative injury. These results suggest inhibitory effects of LGE on the early phase hepatocarcinogenesis in rats after initiation with DEN.

[1]  J. Ferlay,et al.  Cancer Incidence in Five Continents , 1970, Union Internationale Contre Le Cancer / International Union against Cancer.

[2]  H. Yoshiji,et al.  Liposome-encapsulated superoxide dismutase prevents liver necrosis induced by acetaminophen. , 1990, The American journal of pathology.

[3]  Y. Konishi,et al.  Enhancement of hepatocarcinogenesis initiated with diethylnitrosamine or N-nitrosobis(2-hydroxypropyl)amine by a choline-deficient, L-amino acid-defined diet administered prior to the carcinogen exposure in rats. , 2000, Experimental and toxicologic pathology : official journal of the Gesellschaft fur Toxikologische Pathologie.

[4]  R. Puatanachokchai,et al.  Antimutagenicity of lemon grass (Cymbopogon citratus Stapf) to various known mutagens in salmonella mutation assay. , 1994, Mutation research.

[5]  M. Saparbaev,et al.  Antimutagenic role of base-excision repair enzymes upon free radical-induced DNA damage. , 1998, Mutation research.

[6]  W. Hittelman.  The type and time of occurrence of aminopterin-induced chromosome aberrations in cultured Potorous cells. , 1973, Mutation research.

[7]  S. Lyons,et al.  Apoptosis and carcinogenesis. , 1999, British medical bulletin.

[8]  A. Murakami,et al.  Chemoprevention with Food Phytochemicals: Screening, Rodent Studies, and Action Mechanisms , 1998 .

[9]  Y. Tsutsumi,et al.  Enhanced polymer one‐step staining (EPOS) for proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and Ki‐67 antigen: Application to intra‐operative frozen diagnosis , 1995, Pathology international.

[10]  V. Steele,et al.  Progress in cancer chemoprevention: development of diet-derived chemopreventive agents. , 2000, The Journal of nutrition.

[11]  V R Potter,et al.  Application of quantitative stereology to the evaluation of enzyme-altered foci in rat liver. , 1982, Cancer research.

[12]  M. Sporn,et al.  Prevention of cancer in the next millennium: Report of the Chemoprevention Working Group to the American Association for Cancer Research. , 1999, Cancer research.

[13]  Y. Konishi,et al.  Involvement of 8-hydroxyguanine formation in the initiation of rat liver carcinogenesis by low dose levels of N-nitrosodiethylamine. , 1997, Cancer research.

[14]  G. Higgins,et al.  Experimental pathology of the liver , 1931 .

[15]  S. Z. Abdel‐Rahman,et al.  Chemoprevention or Antichemo- prevention? A Salutary Warning From the β-Carotene Experience , 2001 .

[16]  M. Tatematsu,et al.  Medium-Term Bioassay System for Detection of Carcinogens and Modifiers of Hepatocarcinogenesis Utilizing the GST-P Positive Liver Cell Focus as an Endpoint Marker∗ , 1989, Toxicologic pathology.

[17]  S. Nishimura.  Mammalian Ogg1/Mmh gene plays a major role in repair of the 8-hydroxyguanine lesion in DNA. , 2001, Progress in nucleic acid research and molecular biology.

[18]  H. Arimochi,et al.  Inhibitory effects of lemon grass (Cymbopogon citratus Stapf) on formation of azoxymethane-induced DNA adducts and aberrant crypt foci in the rat colon. , 1997, Carcinogenesis.

[19]  L. Lam,et al.  Effects of essential oils on glutathione S-transferase activity in mice , 1991 .

[20]  M. Connor.  Modulation of tumor promotion in mouse skin by the food additive citral (3,7-dimethyl-2,6-octadienal). , 1991, Cancer letters.

[21]  S. Lowe,et al.  Apoptosis in cancer. , 2000, Carcinogenesis.

[22]  V. Vatanasapt,et al.  Cancer in Thailand 1988-1991 , 1993 .

[23]  John Calvin Reed.  Dysregulation of apoptosis in cancer. , 1998, Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

[24]  C. Elson,et al.  Geraniol, an inhibitor of mevalonate biosynthesis, suppresses the growth of hepatomas and melanomas transplanted to rats and mice. , 1995, The Journal of nutrition.

[25]  A. Murakami,et al.  Chemoprevention: Insights into biological mechanisms and promising food factors , 1999 .

[26]  J. Céraline,et al.  Geraniol, a component of plant essential oils, inhibits growth and polyamine biosynthesis in human colon cancer cells. , 2001, The Journal of pharmacology and experimental therapeutics.

[27]  Y. Konishi,et al.  Improved genomic/nuclear DNA extraction for 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine analysis of small amounts of rat liver tissue. , 1995, Cancer letters.

[28]  J. A. Steers,et al.  Man and Environment , 1968 .

[29]  G. Speit,et al.  Influence of beta-myrcene on sister-chromatid exchanges induced by mutagens in V79 and HTC cells. , 1991, Mutation research.

[30]  T. Slaga,et al.  Mechanism-based cancer prevention approaches: targets, examples, and the use of transgenic mice. , 1999, Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

[31]  P. Talalay,et al.  Increase of NAD(P)H:quinone reductase by dietary antioxidants: possible role in protection against carcinogenesis and toxicity. , 1980, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.