A hexane fraction of american ginseng suppresses mouse colitis and associated colon cancer : anti-inflammatory and pro-apoptotic mechanisms
Menée in vitro et sur un modèle murin, cette étude montre qu'une fraction d'un extrait de ginseng américain (Panax quinquefolius) peut prévenir la colite et le cancer du côlon et identifie les mécanismes anti-inflammatoire et pro-apoptotique impliqués
Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic inflammatory condition associated with a high colon cancer risk. We have previously reported that American Ginseng (AG) extract significantly reduced the inflammatory parameters of chemically induced colitis. The aim of this study was to further delineate the components of AG that suppress colitis and prevent colon cancer. Among five different fractions of AG (Butanol, Hexane, Ethylacetate, Dicholoromethane and Water), a Hexane Fraction has particularly potent anti-oxidant and pro-apoptotic properties. The effects of this fraction were shown in a mouse macrophage cell line (ANA-1 cells), in a human lymphoblastoid cell line (TK6), and in an ex-vivo model (CD4+/CD25- primary effector T cells). A key in vivo finding was that compared with the whole AG extract, the Hexane Fraction of AG was more potent in treating colitis in a dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) mouse model, as well as suppressing azoxymethane (AOM)/DSS-induced colon cancer. Furthermore, TUNEL labeling of inflammatory cells within the colonic mesenteric lymph nodes (MLN) was elevated in mice consuming DSS + the Hexane Fraction of AG. Results are consistent with our in vitro data, and with the hypothesis that the Hexane Fraction of AG has anti-inflammatory properties, and drives inflammatory cell apoptosis in vivo, providing a mechanism by which this fraction protects from colitis in this DSS mouse model. This study moves us closer to understanding the molecular components of AG that suppress colitis, and prevent colon cancer associated with colitis.