A water fraction (EW), the remaining water phase from the methanol extract of Ephedra sinica after extraction with ethyl acetate and butanol, has been investigated for its antiangiogenic, antiinvasive and antitumour activities. It was observed that EW, at 30 micro g/mL, a non-cytotoxic concentration, inhibited the tube formation induced by human umbilical venous endothelial cells and the invasion of B16F10 melanoma cells through a matrix membrane by more than 90%. At 30 mg/kg/day, the inhibitory activity of EW on the growth of a tumour mass in BDF1 mice inoculated with B16-F10 murine melanoma cells was comparable to that of adriamycin (ADR) administered at 2 mg/kg/day. From these results, it could be postulated that the antitumour activity of the water fraction might be attributed to its antiangiogenic and antiinvasive activities.
Copyright 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.