title: Antitumor activity of Annona squamosa seed oil.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Custard apple (Annona squamosa Linn.) is an edible tropical fruit, and its seeds have been used to treat "malignant sore" (cancer) and other usage as insecticide. A comparison of extraction processes, chemical composition analysis and antitumor activity of A. squamosa seed oil (ASO) were investigated.
  
  
  METHODS
  The optimal extraction parameters of ASO were established by comparing percolation, soxhlet, ultrasonic and SFE-CO2extraction methods. The chemical composition of fatty acid and content of total annonaceous acetogenins (ACGs) of ASO was investigated by GC-MS and colorimetric assay, and anti-tumor activity of ASO was tested using H22xenografts bearing mice.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The optimal extraction parameters of ASO were obtained as follows: using soxhlet extraction method with extraction solvent of petroleum ether, temperature of 80°C, and extraction time of 90min. Under these conditions, the yield of ASO was 22.65%. GC-MS analysis results showed that the main chemical compositions of fatty acid of ASO were palmitic acid (9.92%), linoleic acid (20.49%), oleic acid (56.50%) and stearic acid (9.14%). The total ACGs content in ASO was 41.00mg/g. ASO inhibited the growth of H22tumor cells in mice with a maximum inhibitory rate of 53.54% by oral administration. Furthermore, it was found that ASO exerted an antitumor effect via decreasing interleukin-6 (IL-6), janus kinase (Jak) and phosphorylated signal transducers and activators of transcription (p-Stat3) expression.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results demonstrated that ASO suppressed the H22solid tumor development may due to its main chemical constituents unsaturated fatty acid and ACGs via IL-6/Jak/Stat3 pathway. ASO may be a potential candidate for the treatment of cancer.
authors: College of Pharmacy, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China. Electronic address: achenyong@gmail.com.
authors: Yong
authors: Y
authors: Chen
authors: College of Pharmacy, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China.
authors: Yayun
authors: Y
authors: Chen
authors: College of Pharmacy, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China.
authors: Yeye
authors: Y
authors: Shi
authors: College of Pharmacy, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China.
authors: Chengyao
authors: C
authors: Ma
authors: College of Pharmacy, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China.
authors: Xunan
authors: X
authors: Wang
authors: College of Pharmacy, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China.
authors: Yue
authors: Y
authors: Li
authors: College of Pharmacy, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China.
authors: Yunjie
authors: Y
authors: Miao
authors: College of Pharmacy, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China.
authors: Jianwei
authors: J
authors: Chen
authors: College of Pharmacy, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China. Electronic address: lixiang_8182@163.com.
authors: Xiang
authors: X
authors: Li
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D031041:Annona / Q000196:embryology*; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D003124:Colorimetry; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000096:biosynthesis; D053612:Janus Kinases / Q000096:biosynthesis; D051379:Mice; D010938:Plant Oils / Q000494:pharmacology*; D050796:STAT3 Transcription Factor / Q000096:biosynthesis; D012639:Seeds / Q000737:chemistry*; D023041:Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D015850:Interleukin-6; D010938:Plant Oils; D050796:STAT3 Transcription Factor; C494087:Stat3 protein, mouse; D053612:Janus Kinases
keywords: Annona squamosa seed oil; Annonaceous acetogenin; Anti-tumor; Soxhlet extraction; Unsaturated fatty acid