Affiliations: Laboratory for Cancer Research, College of Pharmacy,
Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854-8020, USA | Sabinsa Corp, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA | Department of Food Science, Cook College, Rutgers
University, Piscataway, NJ 08854-8020, USA
Note: [] Laboratory for Cancer Research, College of Pharmacy, Rutgers,
The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ 08854-8020, USA. Tel.: +1
732 445 3400 ext 252; Fax: +1 732 445 0687; E-mail: mthuang@rci.rutgers.edu
Abstract: Boswellin (BE), a methanol extract of the gum resin exudate of {\it
Boswellia serrata}, contains naturally occurring triterpenoids,
\beta-boswellic acid and its structural related derivatives,
has been used as a traditional medicine for the treatment of inflammatory and
arthritic diseases. Topical application of BE to the backs of mice markedly
inhibited 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA)-induced
increases in skin inflammation, epidermal proliferation, the number of
epidermal cell layers, and tumor promotion in 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene
(DMBA)-initiated mice. Feeding 0.2% BE in the diet to CF-1 mice for 10--24
weeks reduced the accumulation of parametrial fat pad weight under the abdomen,
and inhibited azoxymethane (AOM)-induced formation of aberrant crypt foci (ACF)
by 46%. acid, 11-keto-\beta-boswellic acid or
3-O-acetyl-11-keto-\beta-boswellic acid
(Fig. 1) to human leukemia HL-60 cell culture inhibited DNA synthesis in HL-60
cells in a dose-dependent manner with IC_{50} values ranging
from 0.6 to 7.1 \muM. These results indicate that
\beta-boswellic acid and its derivatives (the major
constituents of Boswellin) have anti-carcinogenic, anti-tumor, and
anti-hyperlipidemic activities.
Keywords: boswellin, triterpenoid, triterpene acid, boswellic acid, cancer prevention
Journal: BioFactors, vol. 13, no. 1-4, pp. 225-230, 2000
