TY - JOUR T1 - Cytotoxicity and Radical Modulating Activity of Moxa Smoke JF - In Vivo JO - In Vivo SP - 391 LP - 397 VL - 19 IS - 2 AU - HIROSHI SAKAGAMI AU - HISATOSHI MATSUMOTO AU - KAZUE SATOH AU - SEIJI SHIODA AU - CHOWDHURY SHAHEAD ALI AU - KEN HASHIMOTO AU - HIROTAKA KIKUCHI AU - HIROFUMI NISHIKAWA AU - SHIGEMI TERAKUBO AU - YOKO SHOJI AU - HIDEKI NAKASHIMA AU - JUN SHIMADA Y1 - 2005/03/01 UR - http://iv.iiarjournals.org/content/19/2/391.abstract N2 - The biological activities of Moxa, used as moxibustion, have not been well documented. We investigated here Moxa smoke for its tumor-specific cytotoxicity, anti-HIV activity, radical intensity and radical scavenging activity, in comparison with previously published data of Moxa extract. Moxa smoke showed slightly higher cytotoxicity against human tumor cell lines (oral squamous cell carcinoma HSC-2, HSC-3, promyelocytic leukemia HL-60) than against normal oral cells (gingival fibroblast HGF, pulp cell HPC, periodontal ligament fibroblast HPLF), yielding a tumor specificity index of 1.29. Moxa smoke dose-dependently induced internucleosomal DNA fragmentation, activation of caspases 3, 8 and 9, and slightly modified the expression of apoptosis-related proteins (Bcl-2, Bad, Bax) in HL-60 cells, but to much lesser extents than attained by positive controls (UV irradiation, actinomycin D treatment). ESR spectroscopy showed that Moxa smoke generated semiquinone-type radicals under alkaline conditions, and scavenged O2-, hydroxyl radical, singlet oxygen and NO. All Moxa smoke preparations showed no apparent anti-HIV activity. These data demonstrate the antitumor potential of Moxa smoke. ER -