title: Avemar, a nontoxic fermented wheat germ extract, induces apoptosis and inhibits ribonucleotide reductase in human HL-60 promyelocytic leukemia cells.
abstract: Avemar (MSC) is a nontoxic fermented wheat germ extract demonstrated to significantly improve the survival rate in patients suffering from various malignancies. We investigated its effects in human HL-60 promyelocytic leukemia cells. After 24, 48, and 72 h of incubation, Avemar inhibited the growth of HL-60 cells with IC50 values of 400, 190, and 160 microg/ml, respectively. Incubation with MSC caused dose-dependent induction of apoptosis in up to 85% of tumor cells. In addition, Avemar attenuated the progression from G2-M to G0-G1 phase of the cell cycle and was also found to significantly reduce the in situ activity of ribonucleotide reductase, the key enzyme of de novo DNA synthesis. We conclude that Avemar exerts a number of beneficial effects which could support conventional chemotherapy of human malignancies.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Institute of Medical and Chemical Laboratory Diagnostics, Medical University of Vienna, General Hospital of Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, A-1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Philipp
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Saiko
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ozsvar-Kozma
authors.forename: Sibylle
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Madlener
authors.forename: Astrid
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bernhaus
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lackner
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Grusch
authors.forename: Zsuzsanna
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Horvath
authors.forename: Georg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Krupitza
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Jaeger
authors.forename: Kirsten
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ammer
authors.forename: Monika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fritzer-Szekeres
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Szekeres
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects*; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects; D003562:Cytidine / Q000378:metabolism; D004247:DNA / Q000378:metabolism; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology*; D018922:HL-60 Cells; D006801:Humans; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology*; D012264:Ribonucleotide Reductases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*
chemical_list: C113915:Avemar; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D010936:Plant Extracts; D003562:Cytidine; D004247:DNA; D012264:Ribonucleotide Reductases