ABSTRACT
The morbidity and mortality of cancer have been on the rise， making it atop the list of human health threats. It has been a conundrum of global magnitude. As the side effects of chemotherapeutics seriously affect the life quality of cancer patients， it is urgent to find effective anti-cancer drugs with small toxic and side effects. In recent years， the anti-cancer effects of traditional Chinese medicine have attracted the interest of scholars. Owing to the improvement of medical research， an increasing number of anti-cancer components with small toxic and side effects have been extracted from traditional Chinese medicine. Rutin， a unique flavonoid in Chinese medicinals and many plants， proves to inhibit the proliferation of breast cancer， colon cancer， lung cancer， and prostate cancer cells. In addition， rutin alone or in combination with other therapeutic drugs can regulate a variety of signaling pathways and signal mediators of inflammation， apoptosis， autophagy， and angiogenesis， thereby suppressing tumor progression. Moreover， it can also alleviate the drug resistance of tumors and the side effect of chemotherapeutics. Nevertheless， it is limited by the low bioavailability and low solubility， to which nano delivery system turns to be a solution. At the moment， the anti-cancer potential of rutin and the molecular targets of it against various cancers have not been summarized and comprehensively analyzed. Therefore， the authors retrieved articles on the anti-cancer effects of rutin in recent years， summed up the mechanisms and molecular targets， and discussed relevant drug delivery systems and the safety， aiming at laying a theoretical foundation for further development and application of the flavonoid.
ABSTRACT
The occurrence and development of malignant tumors seriously affect the survival time and quality of life of people all over the world， and finding proper treatment methods has been a focus for doctors. Especially in recent years， traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） has developed and attracted the attention of doctors and patients. From the perspective of TCM syndrome differentiation and treatment， deficiency and stasis are the most fundamental causes of malignant tumors， and supplementing deficiency and removing stasis can be regarded as the basic criteria of TCM treatment of malignant tumors. TCM prescriptions can treat diseases by means of multiple components and multiple targets， with the characteristics of slight side effect and high efficacy， safety and cost performance， as well as easiness to be accepted and taken. As a classic recipe for invigorating Qi and generating blood， Danggui Buxuetang consists of Astragali Radix -Angelicae Sinensis Radix 5∶1. It has excellent effects in anti-tumor， bone marrow suppression after chemotherapy， immune function decline， anemia， heart and cerebral vessels protection， blood deficiency-led fever， diabetes， anti-atherosclerosis， anti-fatigue， anti-radiation， myocardial ischemia alleviation， inhibition of platelet aggregation， liver damage， etc. In addition， with many active anti-tumor ingredients， Danggui Buxuetang can exert anti-tumor effects via acting on multiple targets in different binding sites. However， there has been a lack of reviews on the role of Danggui Buxuetang in malignant tumors so far. Therefore， in this paper， the functions of Danggui Buxuetang in malignant tumors were reviewed. Besides， molecular docking technology was used to analyze the main active anti-tumor ingredients and action targets of Danggui Buxuetang.
ABSTRACT
Betulinic acid （BA） is a lupane pentacyclic triterpene extracted from a variety of Chinese herbs such as Betulae Platyphyllae Cortex， Astragali Radix， Paeoniae Radix Alba， Jujubae Fructus， Sanguisorbae Radix， Eucommiae Cortex， Glycrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma， Aucklandiae Radix， and Ziziphi Spinosae Semen. It has attracted wide attention from doctors because of its low toxicity， high efficacy， and multiple functions. BA has been found to possess a significant anti-tumor biological activity， and it is expected to become a potential drug for the treatment of malignant tumors. So far， a number of studies have shown that BA is able to promote apoptosis， inhibit proliferation， metastasis and invasion， and induce cell cycle arrest via multiple mechanisms， thus resisting various malignant tumors such as ovarian cancer， breast cancer， gastric cancer， lung cancer， colorectal cancer， and prostate cancer. It exerts the anti-tomor effect by regulating the expression of cancer suppressor genes p53 and p21， triggering the generatoipn of reactive oxygen species （ROS）， down-regulating the expression of nuclear transcription factor-κB （NF-κB）， adjusting the B lymphocytoma-2 （Bcl-2） family to cause tumor cell apoptosis， and regulating transcription factor Sp1/3/4 to induce apoptosis. Its anti-proliferative activity is mainly achieved via the regulation of cyclin B， cyclin D and cyclin dependent kinases CDK and CDC. Its efficacy in inhibiting metastasis and invasion is mainly realized by regulating matrix metalloproteinase （MMP） and matrix metalloproteinase inhibitor （TIMP）， up-regulating E-cadherin， down-regulating N-cadherin and blocking the epithelial-mesenchymal transformation （EMT）. In addition， BA also induces cell cycle arrest， affects tumor metabolic reprogramming， and activates autophagy to inhibit tumor. Although there are a large number of studies on BA against tumors and its efficacy has been proved strong， the systematic review on its anti-tumor effect is still lacking. Therefore， this study reviewed the anti-tumor effect and mechanism of BA， in order to provide reference for its subsenquent research.
ABSTRACT
Calycosin （CA）， a functional phytoestrogenic isoflavone extracted from Chinese herb Astragali Radix， is characterized by high efficiency， low toxicity， and multiple targets and has multiple pharmacological activities such as anti-oxidation， anti-radiation， anti-bacteria， cardio-cerebrovascular protection， and immunity enhancement. A number of studies have proved its significant anti-tumor effect， making it expected to become a potential component for the treatment of malignant tumors. Research shows that CA exerts the anti-tumor effect via multiple mechanisms like inducing tumor cell apoptosis and inhibiting tumor cell proliferation， migration， and invasion. It has been proved to be effective in suppressing breast cancer， colorectal cancer， lung cancer， cervical cancer， ovarian cancer， nasopharyngeal cancer， and other common malignant tumors. Its anti-tumor activity is mainly related to the regulation of B-cell lymphoma-2 （Bcl-2） family genes， microRNA （miRNA）， and estrogen receptor β （ERβ） to trigger tumor cell apoptosis. Its anti-proliferation activity is mainly reflected in the regulation of cyclin family， WD repeat-containing protein 7 （WDR7-7）， and Ewing sarcoma-associated transcript 1 （EWSAT1）. By blocking the epithelial mesenchymal transformation （EMT）， vascular endothelial growth factor （VEGF）， matrix metalloproteinases （MMPs）， CA inhibits tumor cell metastasis and invasion. In addition， it inhibits tumors by regulating autophagy marker Beclin-1 induced tumor cell autophagy and increases the sensitivity to chemotherapy drugs， thus improving the treatment effect. Although there are many reports about the wide range of applications and good effects of CA in anti-tumor， the systematic review of its anti-tumor mechanism is still lacking. Therefore， this study reviewed the anti-tumor effects and mechanisms of CA， aiming to provide reference for researchers and clinical workers.
ABSTRACT
Objective To study the clinical characteristics of bulbar myasthenia gravis (MG). Methods Retrospective review was performed on 166 patients with bulbar type of myasthenia gravis, diagnosed at Tongji Hospital in the period of May 1983 through October 2005.Results Bulbar MG was a relatively rare type of MG,accounting for 5.7% (166/2888) of MG classifications.Females were more often affected than males (the ratio of male:female was 1:1.35).The peak of onset age was at 20—40 years.The incidence of myasthenia crisis in the group was 26.5% (44/166).Myasthenic crisis occurred in 10.8% (18/166) of the bulbar MG patients within 6 months after onset,resulting in a mortality rate of 6.0% (10/166) in the group.Out of the group,30 cases experienced puhnonary infections (18.1%). Thirty cases were initially misdiagnosed as other diseases such as nasopharyngeal disorders (33/166, 19.9%).The routine therapy was not very satisfactory.Median dose cyclophosphamide therapy appeared to be effective for ameliorating refractory MG.Thymectomy was performed in 25 patients,with optimistic efficacy rate up to 80.0% (20/25) in a 3-year follow-up.Conclusions The clinical analysis in the current study suggested that the bulbar MG had its own characteristics in such aspects as progression of the disease, complications,treatment and prognosis.The information of the clinical manifestations presented in this study may be useful in diagnosing and treating bulbar MG.