Antitumor activity of Ailanthus excelsa (Roxb) stem bark fractions and Canthin-6-one

The alkaloidal compound was isolated from chloroform fraction of methanol 70% extract of Ailanthus excelsa stem bark of Egyptian origin. Successive extracts of A. excelsa stem bark and the isolated compound canthin-6-one were screened for chemopreventive activity. The chloroform extract showed strong inhibitory effect on short term in vivo assay for antitumor promotors, Epstein-Barr virus early antigen induction assay, compared with other fractions petroleum ether, diethyl ether and methanol 70% extracts. The isolated compound canthin-6-one also showed strong activity in the course of this assay. Further, these useful materials were investigated for the inhibitory effects in two-stage mouse skin carcinogensis test. Chloroform extract and its active canthin-6-one decrease actually the average number of papillomas per mouse and percentage papillomas in the promoting stage. These materials were found to exhibit the excellent anti-tumor promoting activity in the in vivo carcinogensis test.