Effects of pine pollen extracts on the proliferation and mRNA expression of porcine ileal cell cultures

Abstract

Masson pine pollen has been used in the traditional Chinese medicine for several hundred years and is attributed a variety of health promoting effects including effectiveness against disorders of the digestive system. But only in recent years some evidence has been found that pine pollen and its compounds do influence e.g. inflammatory activities in mice or mRNA expression profiles in piglets. At least apart of these effects have been attributed to the content of polyphenols in pollen. In the present study different extracts of Pinus massoniana pollen were analyzed for their effects on cell proliferation and mRNA expression levels of selected genes. Cell proliferation was analyzed using an electronic cell impedance sensing technique and relative gene expression profiles were investigated using qRT-PCR. It was found that water and 50% ethanol extracts of Masson pine pollen at a concentration equivalent to 1 % unprocessed pollen decreased cell proliferation significantly (p