The in vivo angiogenic evaluation of betulin

Betulin is a pentacyclic triterpene alcohol with a lupane skeleton mostly found in bushes and trees like the bark of Betula species. Betulin and its derivatives have been reported for their biological activities like anti-HIV, antimicrobial, antiinflammatory properties and moreover betulinic acid was found to selectively to inhibit tumor cells. Betulin shows anticancer activity in a similar mechanisms such as betulinic acid (1). Angiogenesis is the formation of new blood vessels which has a role in the development processes of embryo growth as well as in such diseases like cancer and chronic inflammation. The antiangiogenic approach for the treatment or the prevention of such pathologies looks very promising (2). In this present study, betulin was evaluated both for its angiogenic and antiangiogenic properties using the in vivo chicken chorioallantoic membrane assay (2). The assay performed in three concentrations 5–50µg/pellet. As a result, betulin showed medium-strong antiangiogenic effect at the concentration of 50µg/pellet in the CAM assay, in a scoring system when compared to the standards suramine, thalidomide and cortisone. Furthermore, betulin showed neither toxicity nor membrane irritation at the tested concentrations.

Acknowlegement: This work was financially supported by Badebio Biotechnology, Eskisehir, Turkey.

References: 1. Sami A., Taru M., Salme K., Jari Yli-Kauhaluoma, 2006, Pharmacological properties of the ubiquitous natural product betulin, European Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2 9, 1–13.

2. Demirci F., Paper D.H., Franz G., Baser K.H.C., 2004, Investigation of the Origanum onites L. Essential Oil Using the Chorioallantoic Membrane (CAM)-Assay, J. Agric. Food Chem. 52 (2), 251–254.