Tumor inhibition effects and mechanisms of Angelica sinensis and Sophorae flavescentis ait decoction combined with cisplatin in xenograft mice

Shashen-Maidong Decoction inhibited cancer growth under intermittent hypoxia conditions by suppressing oxidative stress and inflammation

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Lung cancer is one of the most common malignant tumours and has become the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Abnormal microcirculation during tumour growth leads to intermittent hypoxia (IH), which is responsible for promoting cancer cell proliferation and migration. Patients with advanced lung cancers show deficiency of both Qi and Yin Syndrome (DQYS) in TCM, and studies have confirmed that IH exposure is related to DQYS. Shashen-Maidong Decoction (SMD), has been widely applied clinically targeting DQYS and has a long history for treating lung cancer by nourishing the body's "zheng qi" and resisting "xie qi". However, whether SMD could be beneficial to lung cancer under IH conditions remains unclear.

AIM OF THE STUDY

This study aimed to clarify the effects and mechanism of SMD on non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) growth under IH conditions.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

C57 mice were injected subcutaneously into the right axilla with Lewis lung cancer (LLC) cells and exposed to IH conditions (21%-5% O2, 5 min/cycle, 8 h/day) for 21 days. SMDs were orally treated with different concentrations (2.6, 5.2 or 10.4 g/kg/day) 30 min before IH exposure. Tumour proliferation and migration were assessed by HE and IHC staining, and oxidative stress was assessed by DHE staining and MDA or SOD detection. IL-6, IL-1β and TNF-α levels were assessed by IHC staining, and the IL-6/JAK2/STAT3 signalling pathway was detected by western blotting.

RESULTS

Our results showed that SMD treatment inhibited tumour growth and liver metastasis in LLC-bearing mice exposed to IH, decreased Ki67, CD31, VEGF, and MMP-2, and increased E-cadherin expression in tumourt tissue. SMD reduced ROS production, increased SOD levels and SOD-2 expression, and decreased MDA levels and NOX-2 expression. SMD decreased IL-6, IL-1β and TNF-α levels, reduced IL-6 expression and inhibited JAK2 and STAT3 phosphorylation. Additionally, SMD treatment improved DQYS and liver and kidney function in LLC-bearing mice under IH conditions.

CONCLUSION

Our research suggests that SMD treatment can inhibit tumour growth in mice exposed to IH. The antitumour effect of SMD may be related to attenuated oxidative stress and inflammation through inactivation of the IL-6/JAK2/STAT3 signalling pathway under IH conditions.

Yi-qi-yang-yin-tian-sui-fang enhances cisplatin-induced tumor eradication and inhibits interleukin-7 reduction in non-small cell lung cancer

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has been recognized to be conducive to enhancing the efficiency and reducing the side effects in the whole course of cancer treatment. The mechanisms of TCM/chemotherapy combination involved with interleukin-7 (IL-7) potentially enhance immune responses against tumor. In the present study, we emphasized on a herbal formulation Yi-qi-yang-yin-tian-sui-fang or TCM for short, and investigated its roles in chemotherapy in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The mice bared with tumor were treated with cisplatin (DDP) and simultaneously administrated with/without low, medium and high doses of TCMs (effective content: 0.5, 2.0 and 8.0 g/per mice) via oral gavage. The results indicated that combination of TCM further elevated the therapy efficiency of DDP in a dose-dependent manner. The growth of tumor cells was estimated by Ki-67 stain and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP-biotin nick-end labeling (TUNEL) assay. The addition of TCM to the DDP treatment could significantly decrease the expression of Ki-67 and promote the apoptosis of tumor cells. In addition, the serum IL-7 level was down-regulated by DDP but restored by the treatment of TCM. The expression of IL-7 and its receptor IL-7R in tumor tissues was also recovered by TCM. Furthermore, the side effect from bone marrow suppression (myelosuppression) induced by DDP were assessed. TCM could abrogate DDP-induced apoptosis of bone marrow and also remarkably induced the expressions of IL-7 and hematopoietic growth factors including G-CSF, GM-CSF, SCF, and SDF-1 in bone marrow. These data indicated that this TCM combined with DDP showed superior anti-tumor effects with reduced myelosuppression via up-regulating IL-7.