Diverse biological activities of fermented pine seed shell extract.

Intraperitoneal administration of fermented pine seed shell extract (PSSE) (up to 2 g/kg) induced no apparent acute toxicity to mice. Pretreatment of mice with PSSE protected them from the lethality of Escherichia coli infection. PSSE showed a very weak cytotoxic activity against both normal and tumor cells and no anti-HIV activity, but stimulated the mouse macrophage-like Raw 264.7 cells to produce nitric oxide (NO) and citrulline. ESR spectroscopy showed that PSSE produced no detectable radicals, but effectively scavenged O2- (generated by the hypoxanthine-xanthine oxidase reaction), hydroxyl radical (generated by the Fenton reaction) and NO (generated by NOC-7). Comparison of PSSE with other natural products, such as polyphenols and vitamins, further confirmed the close association between radical intensity and radical scavenging activity, suggesting the bimodal action of natural products. Although the biological activities of PSSE were relatively lower than those of other natural products, the present study suggests the possible medicinal efficacy of PSSE.