In Vitro and in Vivo Anticancer Effects of American Ginseng Berry: Exploring Representative Compounds

Abstract

Human colorectal cancer is a common malignancy with a 2008 recorded incidence of 148810 cases with a mortality of 49960 in the United States alone. 1) Half of all patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer eventually will die from the disease; and only less than 10% of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer will survive more than five years after diagnosis. Although many early stage colorectal cancers are cured by surgical resection alone, most often, surgery is combined with adjuvant radio-and chemotherapy. Patients treated for advanced staged colorectal cancer with adjuvant chemotherapy showed a reduced risk of relapse.2) However, commonly used chemotherapy has the drawbacks of severe adverse effects and dose-limiting toxicity. The drug-related adverse effects not only worsen patients' quality of life, but can also lead to their refusal to continue the potentially curative chemotherapy.3,4) Therefore, the need for the identification of non-toxic chemo-adjuvant treatments from herbal medicines remains an essential goal to advance cancer therapeutics.Asian ginseng (Panax ginseng C. A. MEYER) has been used for thousands of years. 5,6) The known biochemical and pharmacological effects of ginseng are antiaging, antidiabetic, anticarcinogenic, and antifatique, along with promotion of DNA, RNA and protein synthesis. [7][8][9] In oriental countries, Asian ginseng root can be steamed to produce red ginseng, the pharmacological effects, such as the anticancer activity, of red ginseng are stronger than that of unsteamed ginseng. 10,11) Another species in the Panax genus, American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius L.), has gained popularity with the American public in the past decade, 7,12) however since most studies have focused on the root of Asian ginseng, there is limited data available with regard to the cancer preventive potential of American ginseng.We evaluated the cancer chemopreventive activities of American ginseng root extract on human colorectal and breast cancer. 11,13) It is believed that the bioactive constituents in American ginseng are ginsenosides. Ginsenosides are distributed in many parts of the plant, including the root, leaf and berry. The different parts of the plant contain distinct ginsenoside profiles, 7,14) and because of this, they may possess different pharmacological activities. Since the root is the most commonly used part of American ginseng, the potential cancer preventive qualities of other parts, such as the berry, has yet to be explored. In a recent pilot study, we observed that steaming the American ginseng berry changed its chemical composition.15) However, the anticancer effects of ginseng berry have not been systematically studied, and observed in vivo. In addition, the effects of heat treatment on the ginsenoside content of ginseng berry extract have not been determined.The aims of this study were to compare the chemical differences between unsteamed American ginseng berry extract (AGE) and steamed American ginseng berry extract (S-AGE) and to investigate the chemopreventive effects...

Ginsenoside Rg3 inhibits colorectal tumor growth through the down-regulation of Wnt/ß-catenin signaling

“…However, for the past decade investigations have demonstrated the direct anticancer properties possessed by ginseng and its active anticancer compounds ginsenosides (14-18,72). We previously evaluated the cancer chemopreventive activities of American ginseng root extract (AGE and S-AGE) and fraction (S2h) on human colorectal and breast cancer (27). Our microarray data indicated that the expression levels of 76 genes were changed significantly after treatment with S2h or Rg3 in HCT116 cells (28).…”

“…Several ginsenosides (e.g., Rh2, Rg3, and Rk1) exhibit anti-proliferative and antiangiogenic activities in vitro and in vivo (19)(20)(21). Mechanistically, Rg3 and/or Rh2, Rk1, has been shown to inhibit the NF-κB signaling pathway (22) and cell proliferation, and to induce apoptosis in cancer cell lines (23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28). Nonetheless, ginsenosides exhibit a broad range of biological activities, including anticancer activities; and their molecular modes of actions may be diverse and remain largely undefined.…”

Preventive and Therapeutic Roles of Ginseng - Focus on Colon Cancer

“…Studies on ginsenosides especially Rg3 and Rh2 showed that they are most effective anti-cancer compounds identified in ginseng (Kim et al, 2004;Helms 2004;Li et al, 2009;Liu et al, 2009;). East Asian countries Asian Panax ginseng is steamed and is called red ginseng, red ginseng air dried is called white ginseng .Studies have shown that anti-cancer effects of red ginseng are stronger than white ginseng Xie et al, 2009). The steaming process alters ginseng content and is a good way to convert all kinds of ginsenosides to strong anticancer compounds such as Rg3 and Rh2 ).…”

Ginsenoside Rg3 inhibits CXCR4 expression and related migrations in a breast cancer cell line

“…In addition to direct inhibition of cell growth [7], Rg3 arrests the cancer cell cycle [8], inhibits angiogenesis [9], and elicits cell apoptosis [10].…”