Ichthyotoxic and anticarcinogenic effects of triterpenoids from Sandoricum koetjape bark.

After bioassay-guided fractionation of the extract from Sandoricum koetjape bark, which exhibited significant toxicity to killifish (Oryzias latipes), two ichthyotoxic triterpenoids were isolated and characterized as koetjapic acid and 3-oxo-olean-12-en-29-oic acid. These constituents, along with non-toxic katonic acid, had a remarkable inhibitory effect on Epstein-Barr virus early antigen (EBV-EA) activation induced by 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate (TPA), which is a preliminary in vitro screening method for possible anti-tumor-promoting agents. Of the triterpenoids active in vitro, koetjapic acid appears to be a promising cancer chemopreventive agent, since it significantly delayed tumor promotion in two-stage mouse skin carcinogenesis induced by 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene and promoted by TPA.