title: Boric acid inhibits human prostate cancer cell proliferation.
abstract: The role of boron in biology includes coordinated regulation of gene expression in mixed bacterial populations and the growth and proliferation of higher plants and lower animals. Here we report that boric acid, the dominant form of boron in plasma, inhibits the proliferation of prostate cancer cell lines, DU-145 and LNCaP, in a dose-dependent manner. Non-tumorigenic prostate cell lines, PWR-1E and RWPE-1, and the cancer line PC-3 were also inhibited, but required concentrations higher than observed human blood levels. Studies using DU-145 cells showed that boric acid induced a cell death-independent proliferative inhibition, with little effect on cell cycle stage distribution and mitochondrial function.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Sciences, University of California, Box 951770, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1772, USA.
authors.forename: Wade T
authors.initials: WT
authors.lastname: Barranco
authors.forename: Curtis D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Eckhert
mesh_terms: D001888:Boric Acids / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002453:Cell Cycle / Q000187:drug effects; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D007306:Insecticides / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D001888:Boric Acids; D007306:Insecticides; C032688:boric acid