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Effect of the water extracts of propolis on stimulation and inhibition of different cells

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Abstract

The water extracts of propolis (WEP) could inhibit growth of different cell lines namely McCoy, HeLa, SP2/0, HEp-2, and BHK21 and stimulate growth of normal cell named human lymphocyte, rat kidney, rat liver, and rat spleen. In these experiments 1 and 2 mg of WEP were added to 1 ml RPMI media with 5% FCS. Cell counts and cell viability of propolis-treated and propolis-free cells were assessed by Trypan blue dye exclusion test and MTT assay. The results showed that in case of McCoy, HeLa, SP20, HEp-2, and BHK21 cell lines, the water extracts of propolis could inhibit cell growth as well as reduction on size of the cells. In contrast the same amount of WEP could stimulate growth of normal cells up to 60% with the same concentration used for cell lines. Thus our study indicates that although WEP consists only of the soluble part of propolis, it enables to inhibit different cell lines and increase growth of normal cells. This indicates also that WEP contains the specific compounds with bioactivity against cell lines. Although propolis contain different number of compounds it is clear that WEP has enough biological compounds useful for the treatment of some diseases, medical and related applications.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dr Kianizadeh and Dr Toroghi for their support and stimulating discussion. Also we are thankful from Kohe Dasht Company for preparation of natural and high quality of propolis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Veterinary Research and Biotechnology, Razi Vaccine and Serum Research Institute, Ahmadabad Ave, Mashhad, Iran

    Mohsen Fathi Najafi, Fatemeh Vahedy, Mohammad Seyyedin & Kazem Bozary

  2. Gyti Pajoohesh Industrial and Science Research Company, No. 51, Parastar Street, Ahmadabad Ave, Mashhad, Iran

    Hamid Reza Jomehzadeh

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  1. Mohsen Fathi Najafi
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  2. Fatemeh Vahedy
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  3. Mohammad Seyyedin
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  4. Hamid Reza Jomehzadeh
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  5. Kazem Bozary
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Correspondence to Mohsen Fathi Najafi.

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Najafi, M.F., Vahedy, F., Seyyedin, M. et al. Effect of the water extracts of propolis on stimulation and inhibition of different cells. Cytotechnology 54, 49–56 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10616-007-9067-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10616-007-9067-2

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