* Cytotoxic activity : A. odorata contains a number of compounds with cytotoxic activity. The following has been found to show this activity: odorine and 5’-epi-odorine were found to inhibit the growth of vinblastine-resistant KB cells by enhancing the anticancer activity of vinblastine. Rocaglaol, pyrimidinone and aglaiastatin inhibits protein synthesis and cell growth. Odorine and odorinol exhibited potent anti-cancer effects in two-stage carcinogenesis i.e. inhibits both the initiation and promotion stages of two-stage skin carcinogenesis in mice. (1R,3E,7E,10S,11S,12R)-dolabella-3,7-dien-10,18-diol and (1R,3R,7E,11S,12R)-dolabella-4(16),7,18-trien-3-ol showed weak cytotoxicity against the human myeloid leukemia HL-60, hepatocellular carcinoma SMMC-7721, and lung cancer A-549 cells.
* A 2007 study by the German Cancer Research Center, in Heidelberg, Germany, found that a number of Chinese herbal extracts showed promise in treatment, both in inhibiting tumor growth and protecting against toxicity of chemotherapy. The extract of Aglaia odorata, or Mi zi lan, sometimes called the Chinese Perfume Plant, produced the extract Rocaglamide, used in Chinese hospitals, was found to induce tumor cell apoptosis in various leukemia cell lines via MAPK activation, affecting bcl2 expression and various caspase mechanisms, with no toxicity on normal cells or lymphocytes.
* Further 2014 study of Rocaglamide, a Chinese herbal extract from Aglaia odorata, or Mi zi lan, by the German Cancer Research Center, in Heidelberg, Germany, found that this herbal extract significantly reduced normal cell death, or apoptosis, in normal healthy cells exposed to toxic chemotherapy, with induced DNA damage, showing that these herbal chemicals are modulatory, a compared to synthetic drugs. This was achieved by blocking upregulation of the protein p53 to help the body protect normal cells in the spleen, and proves that Rocaglamide, long used for this purpose in Chinese hospitals, is indeed a valuable adjunct medicine in cancer treatment: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24434508
==References==