title: Ethanol but not aqueous extracts of tubers of Sauromatum Giganteum(Engl.) Cusimano and Hett inhibit cancer cell proliferation.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Both alcohol and aqueous extracts of Sauromatum giganteum(Engl.) Cusimano and Hett, the dried root tuber of which is named Baifuzi in Chinese, have been used for folklore treatment of cancer in Northeast of China. However, little is known about which is most suitable to the cancer therapy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Serum pharmacology and MTT assays were adopted to detect the effects of ethanol and aqueous extracts of Sauromatum giganteum(Engl.) Cusimano and Hett , prepared by heat reflux methods, on proliferation of different cancer cells.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Cancer cells treated with medium supplemented with 10%, 20%, 40% serum(v/v) containing ethanol extract had a decline in viability, with inhibition rates of 7.69%, 21.8%, 41.9% in MCF-7 cells, 42.8%, 48.1%, 51.8% in SGC-7901 cells, 44.1%, 49.2%, 53.7% in SMMC-7721 cells, 6.8%, 15.2%, 39.8% in HepG2 cells, 7.57%, 16.3%, 36.2% in HeLa cells, 6.24%, 12.5%, 27.4% in A549 cells, and 7.20%, 17.5%, 31.3% in MDA-MB-231 cells, respectively. Viability in the aqueous extract groups was no different with that of controls.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  An ethanol extract of Sauromatum giganteum(Engl.) Cusimano and Hett inhibited the proliferation of SMMC-7721, SGC-7901 and MCF-7 cells, which supports the use of alcoholic but not aqueous extracts for control of sensive cancers, which might include hepatocarcinoma, gastric cancer and breast cancer.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Materia Medica, Research Center of Life Science and Environmental Science, Harbin University of Commerce, and Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Anticancer Drugs of Heilongjiang Province, Harbin, China E-mail : sygao2002@163.com.
authors.forename: Shi-Yong
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Long
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Qiu-Jia
authors.initials: QJ
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Yun-Fei
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gang
authors.forename: Yi-Jun
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Su
authors.forename: Yu-Bin
authors.initials: YB
authors.lastname: Ji
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects*; D029064:Araceae / Q000737:chemistry*; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects*; D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants / Q000494:pharmacology; D000431:Ethanol / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006367:HeLa Cells; D056945:Hep G2 Cells; D006801:Humans; D061986:MCF-7 Cells; D051379:Mice; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology*; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology*; D035281:Plant Tubers / Q000737:chemistry*; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured; D023041:Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays
chemical_list: D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants; D010936:Plant Extracts; D000431:Ethanol