Ursolic Acid Extract

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ON URSOLIC ACID:

• Biological Activities of Ursolic Acid
  Analgesic, Anti-tumor, Anti-bacterial, Diuretic, Anti-diabetic, Anti-oxidant, COX-2 Inhibitor and more.
  
  
• Ursolic Acid Chemistry
  "Ursolic acid is a is a pentacyclic triterpenoid. Ursolic acid is present in many plants, including apples, bilberries, cranberries, elder flower, peppermint, lavender, oregano, thyme, hawthorn, prunes. Ursolic acid has medicinally action, both topically and internally. Ursolic acid is used in many cosmetic preparations for its anti-inflammatory, antitumor and antimicrobial properties. Ursolic acid has antibacterial and antifungal activity. Tests have shown that Ursolic acid inhibits the growth of Candida albicans and Microsporium lenosum. Ursolic acid has anti-inflammatory properties and is used in ointments to treat burns. Topical application of ursolic acid inhibited TPA-induced initiation and promotion of tumor growth."
  
  
• Pharmacology of oleanolic acid and ursolic acid.
  "Oleanolic acid and ursolic acid are triterpenoid compounds that exist widely in food, medicinal herbs and other plants. Recently, both compounds have been noted for their antitumor-promotion effects, which are stimulating additional research in this field. Oleanolic acid and ursolic acid are relatively non-toxic, and have been used in cosmetics and health products."
  
  
• Anti-Inflammatory Activity
  "Ursolic acid is a potent anti-inflammatory agent."
  
  
• Native and Ursolic Acid as a Component of Medical/Pharmaceutical and Cosmetic Preparations
  "Ursolic acid is one of the most frequently found natural plant triterpenic acids – metabolite of herbaceous and fruticose plants such as cowberry, whortleberry, cranberry, sea-buckthorn, bearberry, hawthorn, dog-rose, rhododendron, etc., that are used in folk medicine. Ursolic acid and its native compositions are used in pharmacology (one can find more than 1,500 sources in scientific literature) predominantly as a component of preventive medicine for various diseases including lymphocytic leucaemia, neoplastic tumors, and as a modifier of protein synthesis."
  
  

• Antitumour effects of ursolic acid isolated from Oldenlandia diffusa
  "Ursolic acid demonstrated a significant inhibition of the proliferation of cultured tumour cells"
  
  
• Ursolic Acid Inhibits Cyclooxygenase-2 Transcription in Human Mammary Epithelial Cells
  "These data are important for understanding the anticancer and anti-inflammatory properties of ursolic acid"
  
  
• Proteomic analysis of ursolic acid-induced apoptosis in cervical carcinoma cells
  "Ursolic Acid-induced apoptosis and provide insight into the anti-proliferative mechanism in cervical carcinoma cells. ...compared to control, UA-treated HeLa cervical carcinoma cells unfolded 25 proteins in significant changes, most of which were involved in apoptosis."
  
  
• Anti-invasive activity of ursolic acid correlates with the reduced expression of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) in HT1080 human fibrosarcoma cells
  "We examined the anti-invasive activity of ursolic acid (UA) on the highly metastatic HT1080 human fibrosarcoma cell line. UA reduced tumor cell invasion through a reconstituted basement membrane in a transwell chamber."
  
  
• Inhibition of Tumor Promotion in Skin
  "Topical application of ursolic acid derived from rosemary extract inhibited TPA-induced tumor initiation and promotion, inflammation, and ornithine decarboxylase activity in mouse skin. Ursolic acid exhibited strong anti-inflammatory activity. Ursolic acid and its isomer, oleanolic acid have been recommended for skin cancer therapy in Japan. Topical cosmetic preparations containing ursolic acid/oleanolic acid have been patented in Japan for the prevention of topical skin cancer."
  
  
• Inhibition of Skin Tumorigenesis by Rosemary and Its Constituents Carnosol and Ursolic Acid
  "A methanol extract of the leaves of the plant Rosmarinus officinalis L. (rosemary) was evaluated for its effects on tumor initiation and promotion in mouse skin... Application of rosemary to mouse skin inhibited tumor initiation."
  
  
• Ursolic acid, a naturally occurring triterpenoid, demonstrates anticancer activity on human prostate cancer cells
  "Ursolic acid inhibited significantly the cell viability and induced apoptosis. Ursolic acid, a natural triterpene, structurally similar to dexamethasone, exhibits antitumor effects in various cell types. The antiproliferative and apoptotic effects of ursolic acid in PC-3 and LNCaP cells implicate its potential therapeutic use for the treatment of hormone refractory and androgen-sensitive prostate cancer."
  
  
• Antiproliferative and antiviral mechanisms of ursolic acid and dexamethasone in cervical carcinoma cell lines
  "Our findings may offer new insight into the mechanism of antiproliferative and antiviral effect of ursolic acid. Also, these results suggest that ursolic acid might be a useful anticancer drug in treatment of HPV-associated cervical neoplasia."
  
  
• Antitumour effects of ursolic acid isolated from Oldenlandia diffusa
  "Ursolic acid demonstrated a significant inhibition of the proliferation of cultured tumour cells. ...after continuous exposure to UA for 4 and 24 h showed typical morphological changes of the cell due to an apoptotic effect."
  
  
• Ursolic acid inhibits the formation of aberrant crypt foci and affects colonic sphingomyelin hydrolyzing enzymes in azoxymethane-treated rats
  "Ursolic acid (UA) is a pentacyclic triterpenoid, with anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory properties. These results indicate that UA has chemopreventive effects in the initiation phase of colon cancer associated with changes in Sphingomyelin SM metabolism."
  
  
• Ursolic acid induces apoptosis in colon cancer HT-29 cells
  "UA inhibited the proliferation of HT-29 cells moderately. Apoptosis of HT-29 cells was induced by ursolic acid treatment. Apoptosis in colon cancer HT-29 cells is one of the key mechanisms of ursolic acid action and its antitumor activity may be applicable for the treatment of cancers."
  
  
• Ursolic acid inhibits nuclear factor-kappaB activation induced by carcinogenic agents through suppression of IkappaBalpha kinase and p65 phosphorylation
  "...agents that can suppress NF-kappaB activation have the potential to suppress carcinogenesis. Ursolic acid, a pentacyclic triterpene acid, has been shown to suppress the expression of several genes associated with tumorigenesis, but whether ursolic acid mediates its effects through suppression of NF-kappaB is not understood. In the study described in the present report, we found that ursolic acid suppressed NF-kappaB activation induced by various carcinogens including tumor necrosis factor (TNF), phorbol ester, okadaic acid, H(2)O(2), and cigarette smoke. These effects were not cell type specific. ...our results indicate that ursolic acid inhibits IkappaBalpha kinase and p65 phosphorylation, leading to the suppression of NF-kappaB activation induced by various carcinogens. These actions of ursolic acid may mediate its antitumorigenic and chemosensitizing effects."
  
  
• Ursolic Acid Inhibits STAT3 Activation Pathway Leading to Suppression of Proliferation and Chemosensitization of Human Multiple Myeloma Cells
  "...these results suggest that ursolic acid is a novel blocker of STAT3 activation that may have a potential in prevention and treatment of multiple myeloma and other cancers. ...ursolic acid significantly potentiates the apoptotic effects of thalidomide and bortezomib in multiple myeloma cells and that ursolic acid may have a potential in prevention and treatment of myeloma."
  
  
• Effect of Naturally Occurring Triterpenoids Ursolic Acid and Glycyrrhizic Acid on the Cell-Mediated Immune Responses of Metastatic Tumor-Bearing Animals
  "Intraperitoneal administration of ursolic acid and glycyrrhizic acid (50 μmoles/Kg body wt for 5 consecutive days) was found to produce increased natural killer cell activity (NK-activity) in metastatic tumor-bearing animals."
  
  
• Ursolic acid induces apoptosis by activating p53 and caspase-3 gene expressions and suppressing NF-kappaB mediated activation of bcl-2 in B16F-10 melanoma cells.
  "Treatment of B16F-10 cells with nontoxic concentration of ursolic acid showed the presence of apoptotic bodies and induced DNA fragmentation in a dose depended manner. All these results demonstrate that ursolic acid induce apoptosis via inhibition of NF-kappaB induced bcl-2 mediated anti-apoptotic pathway and subsequent activation of p53 mediated and TNF-alpha induced caspase-3 mediated pro-apoptotic pathways."
  
  
• Ursolic acid-induced down-regulation of MMP-9 gene is mediated through the nuclear translocation of glucocorticoid receptor in HT1080 human fibrosarcoma cells
  "We have previously reported that ursolic acid, a pentacyclic triterpene acid, inhibited the invasion of HT1080 human fibrosarcoma cells by reducing the expression of matrix metalloproteinase-9. we suggest that ursolic acid may induce the repression of matrix metalloproteinase-9 by stimulating the nuclear translocation of glucocorticoid receptor, and the translocated glucocorticoid receptor probably down-modulating the trans-activating function of AP-1 to 2-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-acetate responsible element of matrix metalloproteinase-9 promoter region."
  
  
• Anti-invasive activity of ursolic acid correlates with the reduced expression of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) in HT1080 human fibrosarcoma cells
  "Ursolic Acid reduced tumor cell invasion through a reconstituted basement membrane in a transwell chamber. A significant down-regulation of matrix metalloproteinase9 [MMP-9; Mr 92,000 gelatinase/type IV collagenase (gelatinase B)] by UA was detected by Northern blot analysis."
  
  
• Ursolic acid induces bax-dependent apoptosis through the caspase-3 pathway in endometrial cancer SNG-II cells
  "We found that ursolic acid strongly inhibited the growth of SNG-II cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Morpholgical changes characteristic of apoptosis were observed in treated cells, such as the presence of apoptotic bodies and fragmentation of DNA into oligonucleosomal-sized fragments. Our results indicated that ursolic acid induced apoptotic processes in the endometrial cancer SNG-II cell line through mechanisms involving mitochondrial pathways and Bcl-2 family proteins."
  
  
• Molecular mechanism of ursolic acid induced apoptosis in poorly differentiated endometrial cancer HEC108 cells
  "Ursolic acid strongly inhibited the growth of HEC108 cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Morphological changes characteristic of apoptosis were observed in ursolic acid-treated cells, such as the presence of apoptotic bodies and fragmentation of DNA to oligonucleosomal-sized fragments."
  
  
• Ursolic acid regulates high glucose-induced apoptosis
  "Ursolic acid (UA), a pentacyclic triterpene, is reported to have an antioxidant activity. here was a distinct difference between untreated cells and cells pre-treated . UA pre-treated cells showed significant suppression of apoptotic features such as DNA fragmentation, damage to mitochondrial function and modulation of apoptotic marker proteins upon exposure to high glucose. This study indicates that UA may play an important role in regulating the apoptosis induced by high glucose presumably through scavenging of ROS."
  
  
• Ursolic Acid and Oleanolic Acid Suppress Preneoplastic Lesions Induced by 1,2-Dimethylhydrazine in Rat Colon
  "Ursolic acid (UA) and oleanolic acid (OA) are pentacyclic triterpenoid compounds found in plants used in the human diet and in medicinal herbs, in the form of aglycones or as the free acid. These compounds are known for their hepatoprotective, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, hypoglycemic, antimutagenic, antioxidant, and antifertility activities. suggesting that UA and OA suppress the formation of aberrant crypt foci ACF and have a protective effect against colon carcinogenesis."
  
  
• Ursolic acid triggers calcium-dependent apoptosis in human Daudi cells
  "...ursolic acid was found to decrease cell viability in human lymphoma Daudi cells in a dose-dependent manner. UA also induced morphological changes in cells as well as loss of membrane asymmetry, DNA fragmentation and nuclei condensation, indicating that the mechanism by which UA induced cell death was through apoptosis."
  
  
• Anti-Proliferative Effect of Ursolic Acid on Multidrug Resistant Hepatoma Cells R-HepG2 by Apoptosis Induction
  "Many studies have demonstrated that ursolic acid (UA) could potently inhibit the proliferation of a wide variety of cancer cells . potential of UA as chemotherapeutic agent and provides further insight into the molecular basis of UA-induced apoptosis on multidrug resistance human hepatoma cells."
  
  
• Ursolic Acid Accelerates Taxol-induced Apoptosis via Activation of Bid-Mitochondria-Cyto c Signaling Pathway
  "Ursolic acid, a natural component, can inhibit activation of NF-KB in many apoptosis stimulus"
  
  
• Ursolic acid from the Chinese herb danshen (Salvia miltiorrhiza L.) upregulates eNOS and downregulates Nox4 expression in human endothelial cells.
  
  
• Cranberry and Its Phytochemicals: A Review of In Vitro Anticancer Studies
  
  
• Ursolic Acid Overcomes Bcl-2-Mediated Resistance to Apoptosis in Prostate Cancer Cells
  "Ursolic acid (UA) has demonstrated an anti-proliferative effect in various tumor types. We found that UA treatment in vitro can effectively induce apoptosis in LNCaP and LNCaP-AI cells. UA can overcome Bcl-2-mediated resistance to apoptosis in LNCaP-AI cells. ...the present results suggest the potential utility of UA as a novel therapeutic agent in advanced prostate cancer."

• Antibacterial Effects of Ursolic Acid Against Cariogenic Bacteria
  "...we consider that Ursolic acid can be used in preventional food additives against dental caries."