Antitumour potential of a polysaccharide‐rich substance from the fruit juice of Morinda citrifolia (Noni) on sarcoma 180 ascites tumour in mice

Abstract

An immunomodulatory polysaccharide-rich substance (Noni-ppt) from the fruit juice of Morinda citrifolia has been found to possess both prophylactic and therapeutic potentials against the immunomodulator sensitive Sarcoma 180 tumour system. The antitumour activity of Noni-ppt produced a cure rate of 25%-45% in allogeneic mice and its activity was completely abolished by the concomitant administration of specific inhibitors of macrophages (2-chloroadenosine), T cells (cyclosporine) or natural killer (NK) cells (anti-asialo GM1 antibody). Noni-ppt showed synergistic or additive beneficial effects when combined with a broad spectrum of chemotherapeutic drugs, including cisplatin, adriamycin, mitomycin-C, bleomycin, etoposide, 5- fl uorouracil, vincristine or camptothecin. It was not beneficial when combined with paclitaxel, cytosine arabinoside, or immunosuppressive anticancer drugs such as cyclophosphamide, methotrexate or 6-thioguanine. Noni-ppt also demonstrated beneficial effects when combined with the Th1 cytokine, interferon gamma, but its activity was abolished when combined with Th2 cytokines, interleukin-4 or interleukin-10, thereby suggesting that Noni-ppt induces a Th1 dominant immune status in vivo. The combination of Noni-ppt with imexon, a synthetic immunomodulator, also demonstrated beneficial effects, but not when combined with the MVE-2 copolymer, a high molecular weight immunomodulator. It was also not effective when combined with interleukin-2 or interleukin-12.

Induction of Mitochondrial-Mediated Apoptosis by Morinda Citrifolia (Noni) in Human Cervical Cancer Cells

“…It seems that Noni can enhance the apoptotic efficacy of DNA-binding agents like Cisplatin. This also supports one of the study in which Noni-precipitate in combination with Cisplatin enhanced the antitumor effects; while in combination with DNA/RNA synthesis inhibitors and agents with immunosuppressive properties, were not beneficial on Sarcoma 180 ascites tumors in mice (Furusawa et al, 2003).…”

Optimization of Polysaccharide-Rich Fractionation From Morinda Citrifolia L. Fruit Based on Immunostimulatory Effect in Vitro

“…Different result was observed in method III, which reported that the fraction was almost entirely consisted of carbohydrates. Low level of purity of fraction yielded in our research may explain the situation due to less purification steps used in comparison to method used by Furusawa et al (2003).…”

“…Moreover, method III resulted the lowest yield. Previous report stated approx.13%w/w polysaccharide-rich fraction was yielded from the fruit juice (Furusawa et al, 2003). Fraction yielded from method III exhibited the best appearance as white dried powder with less unpleasant odour characteristic to the fruit.…”

“…Method I was performed based on the isolation procedure for M. citrifolia polysaccharides isolation (Nayak and Mengi, 2010), while method II was derived from isolation of immune stimulant polysaccharides from edible fungus (Yin et al, 2007). Method III was derived from isolation procedure of polysaccharide-rich fraction from M. citrifolia (Furusawa et al, 2003), but unlike previous methods, this method used fresh fruit as starting material. Method IV (Chen et al, 2006) was derived from fractioned polysaccharides from Yu Ping Feng Powder.…”

Fermented Noni Exudate-treated dendritic cells directly stimulate B lymphocyte proliferation and differentiation

“…Noni-ppt did not show any effects on IL-2 production. Therefore, Noni-ppt appears to stimulate a Th1 cell-mediated immune response while suppressing the Th2 humoral response in mediating its anti-tumor effect (5). It was also demonstrated that Damnacanthal (Dam), a component of Noni root, inhibits viral protein R (Vpr) induced cell death and, therefore, has potential anti-virus therapeutic effects (6).…”