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The Effect of Spice Extracts on Caspase‐3 Activity as an Indicator of Apoptosis of Human HL‐60 Cells
Author(s) -
Meadors Joanna L.,
Nantz Meri P.,
Percival Susan S.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.22.1_supplement.700.14
Subject(s) - oxygen radical absorbance capacity , antioxidant , apoptosis , programmed cell death , spice , oxidative stress , caspase , chemistry , caspase 3 , antioxidant capacity , traditional medicine , pharmacology , biochemistry , biology , medicine , electrical engineering , engineering
Spices and herbs contain antioxidant compounds which are hypothesized to reduce the effects of oxidative stress and may, in some cases, contribute to the prevention of chronic diseases. The Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity assay was used to measure the antioxidant capacity of twelve common spices and results confirmed that cloves have a high antioxidant capacity while black pepper is relatively low. We asked if the antioxidant capacity was related to the ability to cause apoptosis. Caspase‐3 is the committed step in apoptosis. Human HL‐60 cells were treated with different concentrations of spice extracts for various times. Caspase‐3 activity was measured with a synthetic substrate and cell death was measured using MTT. The assays revealed that both black pepper and cloves induce caspase‐3 activity in HL‐60 cells and that cell death occurs with both spices. However, the amount of cell death does not appear to be correlated with the antioxidant capacity of the spice. These data suggest that non‐antioxidant compounds in spices may contribute to cell death or that mechanisms other than activation of caspase‐3 may be involved. Funding in part by University Scholars Program at UF.