In vitro effects of hydroxystearic acid on the proliferation of HT29 and I407 cells.

The in vitro effects of hydroxystearic acid on the proliferation of human colon carcinoma cells (HT29) and human embryonic intestine cells (I407) were examined and compared to previous results obtained in murine C108 lung carcinoma cells. The cells were cultured in the presence, or in the absence, of hydroxystearic acid and tested for cell proliferation and viability; the distribution of cells in the cell cycle was evaluated by flow cytometry. Results show that hydroxystearic acid is also an inhibitor of human cell proliferation, and not only of murine C108 cells. Differently from C108 cells, which upon treatment with hydroxystearic acid accumulate in G2-M phases, hydroxystearic acid-treated HT29 cells increase significantly in numbers in G0-G1; I407, embryonic cells used as a control, when treated show only a slight increase in G0-G1.