Molecules 2009, 14(4), 1639-1651; doi:10.3390/molecules14041639
Article

Comparision of the Cytotoxic Effects of Birch Bark Extract, Betulin and Betulinic Acid Towards Human Gastric Carcinoma and Pancreatic Carcinoma Drug-sensitive and Drug-Resistant Cell Lines

Marcin Drag 1, †,* email, Pawel Surowiak 2, 3, 4, † email, Malgorzata Drag-Zalesinska 2 email, Manfred Dietel 3 email, Hermann Lage 3 email and Józef Oleksyszyn 1 email
1 Division of Medicinal Chemistry and Microbiology, Faculty of Chemistry, Wroclaw University of Technology, Wybrzeze Wyspianskiego 27, 50-370 Wroclaw, Poland 2 Department of Histology and Embryology, University School of Medicine, ul. Chalubinskiego 6a, 50-356 Wroclaw, Poland 3 Charité Campus Mitte, Institute of Pathology, Chariteplatz. 1 20/21, D-10117 Berlin, Germany 4 Lower Silesian Oncology Centre, pl. Hirszfelda 12, 53-413 Wroclaw, Poland † These authors contributed equally to the work.
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 17 March 2009; in revised form: 15 April 2009 / Accepted: 22 April 2009 / Published: 24 April 2009
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Triterpenes and Triterpenoids)
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Abstract: Betulin and betulinic acid are naturally occurring pentacyclic triterpenes showing cytotoxicity towards a number of cancer cell lines. These compounds can be found in the bark of the many plants. In this report we have compared the cytotoxic activity of crude birch bark extract and purified betulin and betulinic acid towards human gastric carcinoma (EPG85-257) and human pancreatic carcinoma (EPP85-181) drug-sensitive and drug-resistant (daunorubicin and mitoxantrone) cell lines. Our results show significant differences in sensitivity between cell lines depending on the compound used, and suggest that both betulin and betulinic acid can be considered as a promising leads in the treatment of cancer.
Keywords: Betulin; Betulinic acid; Birch; Gastric carcinoma; Pancreatic carcinoma

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Cite This Article

MDPI and ACS Style

Drag, M.; Surowiak, P.; Drag-Zalesinska, M.; Dietel, M.; Lage, H.; Oleksyszyn, J. Comparision of the Cytotoxic Effects of Birch Bark Extract, Betulin and Betulinic Acid Towards Human Gastric Carcinoma and Pancreatic Carcinoma Drug-sensitive and Drug-Resistant Cell Lines. Molecules 2009, 14, 1639-1651.

AMA Style

Drag M, Surowiak P, Drag-Zalesinska M, Dietel M, Lage H, Oleksyszyn J. Comparision of the Cytotoxic Effects of Birch Bark Extract, Betulin and Betulinic Acid Towards Human Gastric Carcinoma and Pancreatic Carcinoma Drug-sensitive and Drug-Resistant Cell Lines. Molecules. 2009; 14(4):1639-1651.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Drag, Marcin; Surowiak, Pawel; Drag-Zalesinska, Malgorzata; Dietel, Manfred; Lage, Hermann; Oleksyszyn, Józef. 2009. "Comparision of the Cytotoxic Effects of Birch Bark Extract, Betulin and Betulinic Acid Towards Human Gastric Carcinoma and Pancreatic Carcinoma Drug-sensitive and Drug-Resistant Cell Lines." Molecules 14, no. 4: 1639-1651.

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