Herbal Chaste Tree Berry, a Valuable Chemotherapeutic Agent for Treatment of Cancers

Chaste tree berry is found to exhibit a significant anti-cancer activity, a recent study by renowned study advised.

Chaste tree berry is a species of Vitex agnus-castus, genus Vitex, belonging to the family Lamiaceae, native to the Mediterranean region, used in herbal medicine for thousands of years as an aphrodisiac herb and considered as Queen herb in treating menstrual problems and discomforts.

Cancer is a class of diseases characterized by cells growing and multiplying disordered and uncontrollable way in our bodies. In the late stage, the cancer cell may travel away from the originated site
to infect other tissues and organs.



According to the Tianjin Institute for Biomedicinal Research, in the evaluated the apoptosis-inducing effect of chaste tree berry, using observation under a light microscope, flow cytometric analysis, and agarose gel electrophoresis, vitexicarpin, a flavonoid found in chaste tree berry significantly inhibited proliferation of human cancer cells lines A2780(human ovarian carcinoma), HCT-15(human, colon, colorectal adenocarcinoma), HT-1080(fibrosarcoma cell line) and K562(Human chronic myeloid leukemia cells), depending to the concentration.

Dr. Wang HY the lead researcher in the study said, "Vitexicarpin induces apoptosis.... via mitochondria(in regulated cell metabolism)-controlled apoptotic pathway".


In support of the above analysis, the crude extract prepared with ethanol from dried ripened Vitex agnus-castus fruits exerted strong cytotoxic effects against cancer cell lines of human uterine cervical canal fibroblast (HCF), human embryo fibroblast (HE-21), ovarian cancer (MCF-7), cervical carcinoma (SKG-3a), breast carcinoma (SKOV-3), gastric signet ring carcinoma (KATO-III), colon carcinoma (COLO 201), and small cell lung carcinoma (Lu-134-A-H) cells.

The inhibition of the extract is attributed to the effect on cell death through apoptosis and increased intracellular oxidation in the tumor cells.

Other researchers suggested that the cytotoxic effects. of Chaste tree berry may be involved in various aspects, including the JNK (apoptosis) pathway. as indicated in the new native lignan VB6 study.

Taking together, there is no doubt, that chaste tree berry may be considered as a valuable chemotherapeutic agent for the treatment of various types of cancer, depending to further evaluation.


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Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton, Master of Nutrients
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published on line, including world wide health, ezine articles, article base, healthblogs, selfgrowth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
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Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bio science, ISSN 0975-6299.

Sources
(1) [Vitexicarpin, a flavonoid from Vitex trifolia L., induces apoptosis in K562 cells via mitochondria-controlled apoptotic pathway].[Article in Chinese] by Wang HY1, Cai B, Cui CB, Zhang DY, Yang BF.(PubMed)
(2) Cytotoxicity and apoptotic inducibility of Vitex agnus-castus fruit extract in cultured human normal and cancer cells and effect on growth by Ohyama K1, Akaike T, Hirobe C, Yamakawa T.(PubMed)
(3) Vitexin 6, a novel lignan, induces autophagy and apoptosis by activating the Jun N-terminal kinase pathway by Zhou J1, Hu H, Long J, Wan F, Li L, Zhang S, Shi YE, Chen Y.(PubMed)