title: Growth inhibitory potential of effective microorganism fermentation extract (EM-X) on cancer cells.
abstract: The effective microorganism (EM-X) fermentation extract is derived from rice bran and seaweed extract. It has been shown to possess anti-oxidation activity both in vitro and in vivo. To our knowledge, the possible in vitro anti-cancer potential of EM-X has not been demonstrated. Here we showed that the double concentrate of EM-X (EM-X2) at concentrations of 20-30% by volume, had growth inhibitory activity on MDA-MB231 breast cancer cell line and K-562 chronic myelogenous leukaemia cell lines by [3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-5-(3-carboxymethoxyphenyl)-2-(4-sulfophenyl)-2-H-tetrazolium, inner salt] (MTS) assay. No characteristic features of apoptosis could be observed morphologically. Colony formation assay illustrated that both MDA-MB231 breast cancer and K-562 CML cells lost part of their regeneration potential after treatment with EM-X2 at 30% concentration by volume for 24 h. At these concentrations, only slight growth inhibitory effect was observed in 293 human kidney fibroblast cells and in three non-malignant bone marrows. Intracellular nitro blue tetrazolium (NBT) reduction assay showed that both MDA-MB231 breast cancer and K-562 CML cells had about 30% reduction of intracellular NBT after incubation with 30% of EM-X2. Increased activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) could be detected from both MDA-MB231 and K-562 cell lines after incubating with 30% of EM-X2. Taken together, our data suggested that EM-X could inhibit growth and reduce the regeneration potential of cancer cells, possibly through its antioxidation activity.
authors.affiliation: Central Laboratory, Institute of Molecular Technology for Drug Discovery and Synthesis, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Chung Hin
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Chui
authors.forename: Gregory Yin Ming
authors.initials: GY
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ke
authors.forename: Fung Yi
authors.initials: FY
authors.lastname: Lau
authors.forename: Raymond Siu Ming
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: Stanton Hon Lung
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Kok
authors.forename: Sarwat
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fatima
authors.forename: Filly
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cheung
authors.forename: Chor Hing
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Albert Sun Chi
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: Johnny Cheuk On
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Tang
mesh_terms: D000975:Antioxidants / Q000494:pharmacology; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D001419:Bacteria; D001854:Bone Marrow Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D001943:Breast Neoplasms; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003114:Colony-Forming Units Assay; D045424:Complex Mixtures / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005260:Female; D005285:Fermentation; D006801:Humans; D020014:K562 Cells; D008297:Male; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D015003:Yeasts
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D045424:Complex Mixtures; D010936:Plant Extracts; C508178:microorganism fermentation extract