Carnésecchi S, Schneider Y, Lazarus SA, Coehlo D, Gossé F, Raul F. Flavanols and procyanidins of cocoa and chocolate inhibit growth and polyamine biosynthesis of human colonic cancer cells. . Cancer Letters. 2002; 175(2):147-55.
Abstract
The effects of cocoa powder and extracts with different amounts of flavanols and related procyanidin oligomers were investigated on the growth of Caco-2 cells. Treatment of the cells with 50 microg/ml of procyanidin-enriched (PE) extracts caused a 70% growth inhibition with a blockade of the cell cycle at the G2/M phase. PE extracts caused a significant decrease of ornithine decarboxylase and S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase activities, two key enzymes of polyamine biosynthesis. This led to a decrease in the intracellular pool of the polyamines. These observations indicate that polyamine metabolism might be an important target in the anti-proliferative effects of cocoa polyphenols.
Tags
decarboxylase, enzymes, metabolism
