title: Capsaicin inhibits growth of adult T-cell leukemia cells.
abstract: Human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1)-associated adult T-cell leukemia (ATL) is resistant to conventional chemotherapy. We examined the in vitro effects of capsaicin, the principal ingredients of red pepper, on three ATL cell lines. Capsaicin treatment inhibited the growth of ATL cells both in dose- and time-dependent manner. The inhibitory effect was mainly due to the induction of cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. Capsaicin treatment also induced the degradation of Tax and up-regulation of I kappa-B alpha, resulting in the decrease of nuclear factor (NF)-kappa B/p65 DNA binding activity. In addition, the Bcl-2 level was found to be decreased. Based on these findings, capsaicin may be considered for chemoprevention of ATL.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology First Unit, Shimane Medical University, 89-1 Enya-cho, Izumo, Shimane 693-8501, Japan. zhangjie@shimane.med.ac.jp
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nagasaki
authors.forename: Yuetsu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Shigeru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Morikawa
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D002211:Capsaicin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002212:Capsicum / Q000737:chemistry; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects; D004261:DNA Replication / Q000187:drug effects; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D016356:Gene Products, tax / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D006801:Humans; D020672:I-kappa B Proteins / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D007399:Interphase / Q000187:drug effects; D007700:Kinetics; D015459:Leukemia-Lymphoma, Adult T-Cell / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D000072000:NF-KappaB Inhibitor alpha; D016328:NF-kappa B / Q000819:agonists; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors
chemical_list: D016356:Gene Products, tax; D020672:I-kappa B Proteins; D016328:NF-kappa B; C000606204:NFKBIA protein, human; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D000072000:NF-KappaB Inhibitor alpha; D002211:Capsaicin