摘要：Moderate beer consumption can be considered as part of a healthy diet since it may protect against heart disease, cancer and
osteoporosis. The protective effects of beer reside in its polyphenol content
whose chemical composition appears extremely complex. In the present study,
five commercial beers with different polyphenol content (ranging between 690 - 2400 μM equivalents of
quercetin) were employed to investigate their cytotoxic effect in vitro on HL-60 cells derived from a
human promyelocytic leukemia cell line. A significant reduction in cell viability was measured after 48 hours treatment.
Lyophilized beers with higher polyphenol content showed the highest
cytotoxicity compared to those with lower concentrations. However, when the
assay was performed applying equal amounts of total
polyphenols from different lyophilized beers, the sample possessing lowest
amount of polyphenols (690 μM equivalents of quercetin) resulted
the most effective in reducing cell viability. These data suggest that the
biological activities of polyphenols present in beer are not simply dependent
upon their total concentration, but qualitative profile and relative
concentrations are even more important in determining their antiproliferative
effects on cancer cells.
