Aqueous extract of Carica papaya leaves exhibits anti-tumor activity and immunomodulatory effect

Journal of Ethnopharmacology Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved  Aqueous extract of Carica papaya leaves exhibits anti-tumor activity and immunomodulatory effects  Original Research Article Pages 760-767 Noriko Otsuki, Nam H. Dang, Emi Kumagai, Akira Kondo, Satoshi Iwata, Chikao Morimoto  Show preview  |   Purchase PDF (1239 K)   |   Related articles  |  Related reference work articles

Graphical abstract

The leaves of Carica papaya have been used as remedy for various disorders, including cancer.In this paper, we demonstrate that the aqueous-extracted fraction of Carica papaya leaf has several in vitro biological effects: (1) anti-proliferative effect on tumor cells, (2) promotion of Th1 type cytokine production, (3) enhancement of cytotoxicity against tumor cells, (4) upregulation of anti-tumor related genes on PBMC, and (5) the active components of Carica papaya extract to be the fraction with M.W. less than 1000.
These findings are the first report that demonstrated anti-tumor effect of the leaves of Carica papaya, and suggested possibility of inducing a shift to Th1 type immune responses.