Polyphenol-rich extract from Pinus sylvestris L. bark--chemical and antitumor studies.

Unlabelled: Pinus sylvestris L. is a very important timber tree in Romania, the bark being the main waste from the wood processing.

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the chemical composition and antitumor effects against HeLa cells of a polyphenol-rich extract from Pinus sylvestris L.

Extremely low-frequency electromagnetic fields cause DNA strand breaks in normal cells.

Background: Extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields aren't considered as a real carcinogenic agent despite the fact that some studies have showed impairment of the DNA integrity in different cells lines. The aim of this study was evaluation of the late effects of a 100 Hz and 5.6 mT electromagnetic field, applied continuously or discontinuously, on the DNA integrity of Vero cells assessed by alkaline Comet assay and by cell cycle analysis.

Synthesis and in vitro analysis of novel dihydroxyacetophenone derivatives with antimicrobial and antitumor activities.

Herein we report a feasible study concerning the design, syntheses and in vitro antimicrobial and antitumoral activities of some novel compounds with dihydroxyacetophenone (DA) moiety. An efficient and general method for the preparation of diazine with dihydroxyacetophenone (DDA) skeleton under conventional thermal heating (TH), microwave (MW) and ultrasounds (US) irradiation is presented. Antimicrobial and antitumoral tests prove that some dihydroxyacetophenone compounds (the brominated derivatives BrDA 3) have a significant biological activity.

Preclinical trial of the antitumoral therapeutic effectiveness of some natural polyphenolic biopreparations.

We have assessed the antitumoral action of the POLYAS I and POLYAS II vegetal polyphenolic biopreparations--separated and purified from Asclepias syriaca leaves - in rats with various experimental tumoral lines. We studied the therapeutic effect of different doses on the tumor generation process and compared it with the experimental oncostatic action of several standard chemotherapeutic drugs of clinical use (thiotepa, methotrexate, melphalan and cyclophosphamide). In our experimental treatment with the bioactive polyphenolic agents, we have used various doses, both higher and lower than the dose that had conditioned the expression of their antitumoral action upon Guerin T-8 lymphotropic epithelioma and upon Walker 256 carcinosarcoma.

Preclinical qualitative evaluation of the antitumoral pharmacodynamic action of some natural polyphenolic biopreparations.

We have investigated the impact of POLYAS I and POLYAS II polyphenolic biopreparations - specifically separated and purified from Asclepias syriaca leaves, and characterized in vitro as cytotoxic and/or cytostatic agents - on the tumor generation process. A series of in vivo tests of their effect on the development of Guerin T-8 lymphotropic epithelioma and Walker 256 carcinosarcoma were conducted. In a first stage of preclinical trial we had used several tests meant to evaluate their antitumoural activity indices.