Effect of Lupeol on cell viability of PrEC, LNCaP, CWR22Rν1, PC-3, and DU145 cells. One of the major failures in successfully treating CaP is due to the presence of a mixture of CaP
agenerase [comprising androgen-dependent and androgen-independent cells] as lesions of different androgen-status respond differently to the chemotherapy [10]. We investigated the effect of Lupeol (10–50 μΜ) treatment on the viability of androgen-sensitive (LNCaP and CWR22Rν1), androgen-insensitive (PC-3 and DU145) CaP cells and normal prostate epithelial cell (PrEC). Lupeol treatment caused a dose-dependent decrease in the viability of CaP
cells at 48 h post-treatment ( Fig. 1). However, Lupeol treatment was observed to bear no effect on the viability of PrEC cells at similar doses ( Fig. 1). These data is significant because Lupeol caused inhibition in the growth of human CaP cells irrespective of their androgen responsive status and spares normal prostate epithelial cells. In addition, there is an increasing interest and emphasis given by scientists and clinicians on natural diet-based agents which are capable of selective/preferential elimination of cancer cells without affecting normal cells [10].
