[Retracted] Polyphenol­rich extract of Saliva chinensis exhibits anticancer activity in different cancer cell lines, and induces cell cycle arrest at the G0/G1­phase, apoptosis and loss of mitochondrial membrane potential in pancreatic cancer cells.

Following the publication of the above paper, a concerned reader drew to the Editor's attention that several figures (Figs. 3, 4 and 6) contained apparent anomalies, including repeated patternings of data within the same figure panels. Furthermore, Fig. 6 contained data that bore striking similarities to data published in Fig. 8 in another paper published in Molecular Medicine Reports, which has now been retracted [Zhu Y­Y, Huang H­Y and Wu Y­L: Anticancer and apoptotic activities of oleanolic acid are mediated through cell cycle arrest and disruption of mitochondrial membrane potential in HepG2 human hepatocellular carcinoma cells. Mol Med Rep 12: 5012­5018, 2015]. After having conducted an independent investigation in the Editorial Office, the Editor of Molecular Medicine Reports has determined that the above paper should be retracted from the Journal on account of a lack of confidence concerning the originality and the authenticity of the data. The authors were asked for an explanation to account for these concerns, but the Editorial Office never received any reply. The Editor regrets any inconvenience that has been caused to the readership of the Journal. [the original articles was published in Molecular Medicine Reports 12: 4843­4850, 2015; DOI: 10.3892/mmr.2015.4074].

Polyphenol-rich extract of Salvia chinensis exhibits anticancer activity in different cancer cell lines, and induces cell cycle arrest at the G0/G1-phase, apoptosis and loss of mitochondrial membrane potential in pancreatic cancer cells.

Pancreatic cancer (PC) is one of the most aggressive types of human malignancy, which has an overall 5-year survival rate of <2%. PC is the fourth most common cause of cancer­associated mortality in the western world. At present, there is almost no effective treatment available for the treatment of PC. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the anticancer potential of a polyphenol enriched extract obtained from Salvia chinensis, a Chinese medicinal plant. An MTT assay was used to evaluate the cell viability of five cancer cell lines and one normal cell line. In addition, the effects of the extract on apoptotic induction, cell cycle phase distribution, DNA damage and loss of mitochondrial membrane potential (ΛΨm) were evaluated in MiapaCa­2 human PC cells. The effects of the extract on cell cycle phase distribution and ΛΨm were assessed by flow cytometry, using propidium iodide and rhodamine­123 DNA­binding fluorescent dyes, respectively. Fluorescence microscopy, using 4',6­diamidino­2­phenylindole as a staining agent, was performed in order to detect the morphological changes of the MiapaCa­2 cancer cells and the presence of apoptotic bodies following treatment with the extract. The results of the present study demonstrated that the polyphenol­rich extract from S. chinensis induced potent cytotoxicity in the MCF­7 human breast cancer cells, A549 human lung cancer cells, HCT­116 and COLO 205 human colon cancer cells, and MiapaCa­2 human PC cells. The Colo 205 and MCF­7 cancer cell lines were the most susceptible to treatment with the extract, which exhibited increased rate of growth inhibition. Fluorescence microscopy revealed characteristic morphological features of apoptosis and detected the appearance of apoptotic bodies following treatment with the extract in the PC cells. Flow cytometric analysis demonstrated that the extract induced G0/G1 cell cycle arrest in a dose­dependent manner. In addition, treatment with the extract induced a significant and concentration-dependent reduction in the ΛΨm of the PC cells.

Determinations of mifepristone and its metabolites and their pharmacokinetics in healthy female Chinese subjects.

The aim of this study is to establish an HPLC method for simultaneous determinations of mifepristone and its metabolites, mono-demethylated mifepristone, di-demethylated mifepristone and C-hydroxylated mifepristone in plasma and to evaluate the pharmacokinetic characteristics of mifepristone tablet. Twenty healthy female Chinese subjects were recruited and a series of blood samples were collected before and after 0.25, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 4.0, 8.0, 12.0, 24.0, 48.0, 72.0 and 96.0 hours administration by a single oral dose of 75 mg mifepristone tablet. Mifepristone and its three metabolites were extracted from plasma using ethyl acetate and determined by high performance liquid chromatography. The main pharmacokinetic parameters of mifepristone and its metabolites, including Cmax, tmax, MRT, t(1/2), V, CL, AUC(0-96 h) and AUC(0-infinity), were calculated by Drug and Statistical Software Version 2.0. The simple, accurate and stable method allows the sensitive determinations of mifepristone and its metabolites in human plasma up to 4 days after oral administration of 75 mg mifepristone tablet and the clinical applications of their pharmacokinetic studies.