Anticancer and Anti-Inflammatory Activity of Probiotic Lactococcus lactis NK34.

The anticancer and anti-inflammatory activities of probiotic Lactococcus lactis NK34 were demonstrated. Treatment of cancer cells such as SK-MES-1, DLD-1, HT-29, LoVo, AGS, and MCF-7 cells with 10(6) CFU/well of L. lactis NK34 resulted in strong inhibition of proliferation (>77% cytotoxicity, p < 0.05). The anti-inflammatory activity of L. lactis NK34 was also demonstrated in lipopolysaccharide-induced RAW 264.7 cells, where the production of nitric oxide and proinflammatory cytokines (tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-18, and cyclooxygenase-2) was reduced. These results suggest that L. lactis NK34 could be used as a probiotic microorganism to inhibit the proliferation of cancer cells and production of proinflammatory cytokines.