Antitumor activities of several phytopolysaccharides

Abstract

Polysaccharides were isolated with alkaline extraction method from twelve pharmaceutical plants, which have been used against the various tumors in the oriental herb medicine, and examined for their antitumor activities. When the polysaccharides were administered i.p. at the dose of 10mg/kg/day for ten consecutive days to the male ICR mice, which had been implanted with 1×10⁶ cells of sarcoma 180 twentyfour hours before the first injection of polysaccharides, those fromForsythia Corea, Curcuma Zedoaria, Albizzia Julibrissin, Prunus Persica, Foeniculum Vulgare andDaphne Pseudogenkwa showed inhibition ratios of 88.0%, 61.1%, 73.0%, 72.8% 55.1% and 71.7%. The significant prolongation of life span was observed only in the case ofForsythia Corea (18.1%). Other six polysaccharide fractions fromOlibanum, Lonicera Japonica, Rheum Coreanum, Scirpus Maritimus, gleditchia Officinalis and Brassica Juncea showed negligible inhibition ratios.