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ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE

Immunologic and Biochemical Effects of the Fermented Wheat Germ Extract Avemar

Christoph Illmer^*, Sibylle Madlener^*, Zsuzsanna Horvath^*, Philipp Saiko^*, Annemarie Losert^*, Irene Herbacek, Michael Grusch, Georg Krupitza, Monika Fritzer-Szekeres^* and Thomas Szekeres^*,1

^* Clinical Institute of Medical and Chemical Laboratory Diagnostics, General Hospital of Vienna; Institute of Cancer Research; and Institute of Clinical Pathology, Medical University of Vienna, A-1090 Vienna, Austria

To whom requests for reprints should be addressed at ¹ Clinical Institute of Medical and Chemical Laboratory Diagnostics, Medical University of Vienna, General Hospital of Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, A-1090 Vienna, Austria. E-mail: thomas.szekeres{at}meduniwien.ac.at

Avemar (MSC) is a nontoxic fermented wheat germ extract demonstrated to have antitumor effects. Avemar has the potential to significantly improve the survival rate in patients suffering from malignant colon tumors. We studied its effects in the HT-29 human colon carcinoma cell line. Avemar had an inhibiting effect on colonies of HT-29 cells with an IC₅₀ value of 118 µg/ml (7 days of incubation); this value could be decreased to 100 and 75 µg/ml in the presence of vitamin C. In the cell line examined, Avemar induced both necrosis and apoptosis, as demonstrated by Hoechst/propidium iodide staining. The incubation of cells with 3200 µg/ml Avemar for 24 hrs caused necrosis in 28% and the induction of apoptosis in 22% of the cells. Avemar inhibited the cell-cycle progression of HT-29 cells in the G1 phase of the cell cycle. In addition, Avemar inhibited the activity of the key enzyme of de novo DNA synthesis, ribonucleotide reductase. In addition, we determined the effects of Avemar on the activity of cyclooxygenase-1 and -2. Both enzymes were significantly inhibited by Avemar with IC₅₀ values of 100 and 300 µg/ml, respectively. We outline new explanations for its antitumor activity, which might serve as the basis for further studies using Avemar.

Key Words: Avemar • HT-29 • ribonucleotide reductase • apoptosis • cell cycle • cyclooxygenase

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