Antitumor and anti-intoxication activities of fumaric acid in cultured cells.

Fumaric acid, isolated as the active component of Capsella bursa-pastoris herb for inhibiting the solid growth of Ehrlich tumor in mice, was found to reduce markedly the growth and viability of Ehrlich, MH134, and L1210 mouse tumor cells in culture at concentration of 0.3 approximately 1.2 mg/ml. In contrast, fumaric acid at these concentrations in the culture medium had no deleterious effect on the monolayer development of mouse and chick embryo cells but exhibited activity to enhance the recovery of the cells from the toxic effects of mitomycin C, aflatoxin B1, N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine, and potassium 1-methyl-7-[2-(5-nitro-2-furyl) vinyl]-4-oxo-1,4-dihydro-1,8-naphthyridine-3-carboxylate.