In vitro (Cell Line Studies)

Effect of simultaneous administration of Avemar and cytostatic drugs on viability of cell cultures, growth of experimental tumors, and survival tumor-bearing mice

Avemar, a wheat germ preparation with immunomodulant and antimetastatic activity, was applied simultaneously with cytostatic drugs of different modes of action, in vitro and in vivo, in order to find out whether this simultaneous administration exerts an antagonistic or a synergistic effect on the viability of cell cultures, tumor growth, and survival of animals, inoculated with a transplantable mouse tumor (3LL-HH). In vitro, Avemar did not influence the effect on the viability of MCF-7, HepG2, or Vero cells, exerted by Dacarbazine, 5-fluorouracyl, or Adriblastina.

The efficacy of tamoxifen in estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer cells is enhanced by a medical nutriment

Avemar, a fermented wheat germ extract, has been applied in the supplementary therapy of human cancers. Because tamoxifen is commonly used in the therapy of ER+ breast cancer, in this study the combined effect of tamoxifen and Avemar treatment was investigated on MCF-7 breast cancer cells, in order to detect a possible agonistic or antagonistic action.

Chemoprevention with Tamoxifen and Avemar by inducing apoptosis on MCF-7 (ER+) Breast cancer cells

In the present study the combined effect of in vitro tamoxifen and Avemar treatment was studied on MCF-7 (ER+) breast cells as a model of a breast cancer situation. Cells were transformed for 24, 48 and 72 hours, cytotoxicity was measured by MTT assay, the percentage of apoptosis and cell proliferation was determined by flow cytometry, hematoxilin/cosin staining and by immunochemistry using the ApopTag reaction. Estrogen receptor activation was studied by semi-quantitative determination of the estrogen-responsive pS2 gene mRNA production.

Chemopreventive role of Avemar in decreasing the cytotoxic effect of xenobiotics

The chemopreventive effect of AVEMAR, a new natural medicinal product dominantly composed of substituted benzochinon (2,6-dimethoxy-p-benzochinon), extracted from fermented wheat germ was studied. Earlier studies demonstrated that AVEMAR exhibits anti-metastatic, immunrestitutive, antioxidant properties, and able to increase apoptosis. The in vitro cytotoxic effect of AVEMAR was determined using the MTT assay on both normal (MRC-5) and transformed (Vero, HepG2, MCF-7, MDA-MB-231) cell lines.

A metabolic hypothesis of cell growth and death in pancreatic cancer

INTRODUCTION: Tumor cells, just as other living cells, possess the potential for proliferation, differentiation, cell cycle arrest, and apoptosis. There is a specific metabolic phenotype associated with each of these conditions, characterized by the production of both energy and special substrates necessary for the cells to function in that particular state. Unlike that of normal living cells, the metabolic phenotype of tumor cells supports the proliferative state.

Fermented wheat germ extract induces apoptosis and downregulation of major histocompatibility complex class I proteins in tumor T and B cell lines

The fermented wheat germ extract (code name: MSC, trade name: Avemar), with standardized benzoquinone content has been shown to inhibit tumor propagation and metastases formation in vivo. The aim of this study was to understand the molecular and cellular mechanisms of the anti-tumor effect of MSC. Therefore, we have designed in vitro model experiments using T and B tumor lymphocytic cell lines.

Fermented wheat germ extract inhibits glycolysis/pentose cycle enzymes and induces apoptosis through poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase activation in Jurkat T-cell leukemia tumor cells

The fermented extract of wheat germ, trade name Avemar, is a complex mixture of biologically active molecules with potent anti-metastatic activities in various human malignancies. Here we report the effect of Avemar on Jurkat leukemia cell viability, proliferation, cell cycle distribution, apoptosis, and the activity of key glycolytic/pentose cycle enzymes that control carbon flow for nucleic acid synthesis. The cytotoxic IC50 concentration of Avemar for Jurkat tumor cells is 0.2 mg/ml, and increasing doses of the crude powder inhibit Jurkat cell proliferation in a dose-dependent fashion.

Metabolic profiling of cell growth and death in cancer: applications in drug discovery

Metabolic profiling using stable-isotope tracer technology enables the measurement of substrate redistribution within major metabolic pathways in living cells. This technique has been demonstrated that tranformed human cells exhibit profound metabolic shifts and that some and anti-cancer drugs produce their effects by forcing a reversion of these metabolic changes.

Wheat germ extract decreases glucose uptake and RNA ribose formation but increases fatty acid synthesis in MIA pancreatic adenocarcinoma cells

The fermented wheat germ extract with standardized benzoquinone composition has potent tumor propagation inhibitory properties. The authors show that this extract induces profound metabolic changes in cultured MIA pancreatic adenocarcinoma cells when the [1,2-13C2]glucose isotope is used as the single tracer with biologic gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. MIA cells treated with 0.1, 1, and 10 mg/mL wheat germ extract showed a dose-dependent decrease in cell glucose consumption, uptake of isotope into ribosomal RNA (2.4%, 9.4%, and 28.0%), and release of 13CO2.

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