Presenting author: Jing Jin

Co-authors: Maria Beatriz Abreu Gloria, Ziyi Zhan, Anthony Cam, Bill Helferich, and Nicki J. Engeseth

Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition

Introduction: Some amines are widespread in living cells and play several important roles in health, disease and aging. The polyamines spermine and spermidine have been of primary interest, as they participate in cell growth and proliferation. Putrescine, the precursor of polyamines, is sometimes reported to have similar activities to the polyamines. However, many of these functions have not been scientifically demonstrated. Thus, the objective of this research was to compare the antioxidant and anti-carcinogenic capacity of spermine, spermidine and putrescine through various in vitro assays. Methods: Antioxidant capacity of selected amines was compared using two commonly used antioxidant capacity assays, the DPPH and Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) assays. The inhibitory effect of polyamines on cancer cell growth was investigated using murine breast cancer 4T1 cells and MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay to monitor cell growth. Results: As demonstrated by ORAC, spermine (139.5 µM TE/g) had the highest antioxidant capacity, followed by putrescine (27.4 µM TE/g). Spermidine had relatively low antioxidant capacity (4.2 µM TE/g). DPPH results were similar to ORAC values. When tested for anti-carcinogenic activity, spermine and spermidine inhibited the growth of 4T1 cells at IC50 of 11.5 µg/mL and 7.8 µg/mL, respectively. No anti-carcinogenic effects were observed in this cell system with putrescine. Significance: This represents the first report of comparison of different polyamines for antioxidant capacity by means of ORAC and DPPH. We have also generated data from one cell line indicating that the polyamines, but not putrescine, may prevent cell growth. Other cell lines will be tested in the future to ascertain the role of polyamines in cancer.