RESUMEN
BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: The raw juice of the young sticks and leaves of Sauropus androgynus (SA) has been widely used as a natural food for body weight reduction and vision protection in Taiwan and Southeast Asia. But as has been reported, SA-associated obliterative bronchiolitis can develop after taking SA for more than 3 months. Lung transplantation was carried out in severe cases. METHODS: To study the toxic effect, we separated the SA extract into three parts, namely CHCl3, EtOAc and n-BuOH fractions, using polarity dissection. NIH3T3 fibroblasts were treated with the SA fractions 300 microg/mL and subjected to a series of cytotoxic assays. RESULTS: The EtOAc fraction exhibited the strongest effect of cell growth inhibition, followed by the CHCl3 and n-BuOH fractions. Features of condensed chromatin and apoptosis were observed in cells exposed to n-BuOH and EtOAc fractions using fluorescence microscopy. Formation of DNA ladders was also observed in the above cells. Instead, the CHCl3 fraction induced DNA smearing. In bivariate dot plots of annexin V and propidium iodide double staining, necrosis and apoptosis appeared in cells treated with CHCl3 and n-BuOH fractions, respectively, and a mixed type of necrosis and apoptosis appeared in EtOAc fraction-treated cells. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that necrosis and apoptosis are involved in the toxic effect of SA in NIH3T3 fibroblasts. More evidence is needed to clarify if necrosis and apoptosis are also related to the pathogenesis of SA-associated obliterative bronchiolitis.
Asunto(s)
Apoptosis , Euphorbiaceae/toxicidad , Preparaciones de Plantas/toxicidad , Verduras/toxicidad , Animales , Bronquiolitis/inducido químicamente , Ratones , Células 3T3 NIH/efectos de los fármacos , Necrosis , Extractos Vegetales/toxicidadRESUMEN
The young sticks and leaves of Sauropus androgynus (SA) that had been used as a health food for body weight reduction, led to an outbreak of obliterative bronchiolitis in Taiwan. This study tested the toxicity and anti-obesity features of the SA-isolated compound, 3-O-beta-D-glucosyl-(1-->6)-beta-D-glucosyl-kaempferol (GGK), on male Wistar rats receiving 6 or 60 mg/kg of GGK orally as well as partial purified EtOAc and n-BuOH fractions of SA extract daily for 28 d. Sixty milligrams per kilogram GGK treatment significantly reduced food intake in rats by 15% (p<0.05). The reduced food intake corresponded to decreases in body weight in the high or low dose GGK groups, as compared to the control groups. The serum levels of free triglyceride significantly decreased in GGK-treated rats. GGK treatment led to succesive reductions in daily food intake and body weight without obvious histopathological changes in Wistar rats. Thus, GGK may be potentially to be developed as a safe and novel compound for anti-obesity treatment.