title: Antimutagenic constituents of adlay (Coix lachryma-jobi L. var. ma-yuen Stapf) with potential cancer chemopreventive activity.
abstract: Adlay has long been used in traditional Chinese medicine and as a nourishing food. The acetone extract of adlay hull had previously been demonstrated to possess potent antimutagenic activity. The aims of this study were to identify the antimutagenic constituents from adlay hull by using Ames antimutagenic activity-guide isolation procedures and to investigate their chemopreventive efficacies in cultured cells. The results demonstrated that six compounds showing great antimutagenic activity were identified by spectroscopic methods and by comparison with authentic samples to be p-hydroxybenzaldehyde, vanillin, syringaldehyde, trans-coniferylaldehyde, sinapaldehyde, and coixol. Two of them, trans-coniferylaldehyde and sinapaldehyde, exhibit relatively potent scavenging of DPPH radicals, inhibit TPA stimulated superoxide anion generation in neutrophil-like leukocytes, and induce Nrf2/ARE-driven luciferase activity in HSC-3 cells. Moreover, trans-coniferylaldehyde possesses cytoprotective efficacy against tert-butyl hydroperoxide-induced DNA double-strand breaks in cultured cells, and the chemopreventive potency induced by trans-coniferylaldehyde may be through the activation of kinase signals, including p38, ERK1/2, JNK, MEK1/2, and MSK1/2. In summary, we first identified six antimutagenic constituents from adlay hull. Among them, trans-coniferylaldehyde would be a highly promising agent for cancer chemoprevention and merits further investigation.
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Cancer Research, National Health Research Institutes, Tainan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Huang-Hui
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Wenchang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Chiang
authors.forename: Jang-Yang
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Ya-Lin
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Chien
authors.forename: Ching-Kuo
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Ko-Jiunn
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Yen-Ting
authors.initials: YT
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Ting-Fang
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Yueh-Hsiung
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Kuo
authors.forename: Ching-Chuan
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Kuo
mesh_terms: D000447:Aldehydes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D016587:Antimutagenic Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D031742:Coix / Q000737:chemistry*; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000517:prevention & control*
chemical_list: D000447:Aldehydes; D016587:Antimutagenic Agents; D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal