Boiled water extract of the brown macroalga Turbinaria ornata for 72 h and water extract at room temperature for 6 days reduced the viability of tumor cells to 68.9% and 81.8%, respectively. 1017.5 µg oleic acid and 1406.01 µg palmitic acid were extracted by organic solvents from 100 grams air dried powder of T. ornata. Different concentrations of these acids showed antitumor activities after 5 minutes against Ehrlich ascites carcinoma cells. Hundred µg/ml oleic acid or palmitic acid reduced tumor cells viability to approximately 0-1%. All tumor cells were non viable after treating by different concentrations of oleic acid after 40 min and palmitic acid at 30 min. Also, the present study indicates that antitumor activity of palmitic acid was higher than that of oleic acid. The effect of water extract of T. ornata, as well as oleic acid and palmitic acid upon tumor cells in vitro were shown to be concentration and time dependent. Although the studies showed medical importance of T. ornate in tumor treatment, more scientific research is required on the level of molecular biology to determine genes responsible for these natural products in the alga and how to increase the effect of these active substances in tumor treatment.
Key words: Antitumor fatty acids, natural products, seaweeds, Turbinaria ornata
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