Effect of Astragali Radix-Curcumae Rhizoma compatibility combined with 5-fluorouracil on Th17/Treg balance and tumor-related mRNA and protein expression in orthotopic xenograft model mice of CT26.WT colorectal carcinoma / 中国中药杂志

Astragali Radix-Curcumae Rhizoma(AR-CR) is a combination commonly used in the clinical treatment of tumors. Based on the T helper 17(Th17)/regulatory T cell(Treg) balance, the present study explored the possible mechanism of AR-CR combined with 5-fluorouracil(5-FU) on the tumor growth of orthotopic xenograft model mice of colorectal carcinoma. Ninety male BALB/c mice were randomly divided into nine groups, i.e., a blank group, a model group, a 5-FU group, high-, medium-, and low-dose AR-CR(2∶1) groups, and high-, medium-, and low-dose AR-CR+5-FU groups, with 10 mice in each group. The orthotopic xenograft model of CT26.WT colorectal carcinoma was induced in mice except those in the blank group. Twenty-four hours after the ope-ration, mice in the blank group and the model group received normal saline by gavage(10 mL·kg~(-1), once per day), and those in the 5-FU group received 5-FU by intraperitoneal injection(25 mg·kg~(-1), once every other day). Mice in the AR-CR groups received AR and CR decoctions by gavage(12, 6, and 3 g·kg~(-1), once a day) and those in the combination groups received AR and CR decoctions and 5-FU(doses and administration methods were the same as above). After intervention for three weeks, all mice were sacrificed and tumor tissues were collected. The tumor mass was weighed and the average tumor weight was calculated. The changing trend of Th17/Treg(%) in the CD4~+T lymphocytes of the spleen tissues of the mice in each group was detected. The mRNA expression in the blood and protein expression in the tumor tissues of transforming growth factor-β(TGF-β), tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α), interferon-γ(IFN-γ), Smad4, N-cadherin, matrix metalloproteinase-7(MMP-7) were detected. The experimental results revealed that compared with the model group, the groups with drug intervention showed reduced tumor mass(P<0.01), decreased CD4~+IL-17~+ in the spleen tissues to varying degrees(P<0.001), and increased proportion of CD4~+Foxp3~+(P<0.001 or P<0.05), indicating that Th17/Treg maintained dynamic balance, and the effect of the combination groups was predominant. Additionally, the mRNA expression in the blood and protein expression in the tumor tissues of TGF-β, TNF-α, IFN-γ, Smad4, N-cadherin, and MMP-7 declined to varying degrees in a dose-dependent manner(P<0.01 or P<0.001). The AR-CR combined with 5-FU can inhibit the tumor growth of orthotopic xenograft model mice of CT26.WT colorectal carcinoma. The mechanism may be related to maintenance of Th17/Treg dynamic balance in the body and down-regulation of TGF-β, TNF-α, IFN-γ, Smad4, N-cadherin, and MMP-7 expression.

Research on drug use rules of ancient and modern medical prescriptions for differentiation and treatment of digestive system tumors based on data mining / 中草药

To investigate the rule of prescription medication in the treatment of digestive system tumors. All the digestive system cancer prescriptions in Cancer Prescription Daquan were entered into Microsoft Excel 2010, the database was established and the frequency, drug pairs and categories of traditional Chinese medicine were counted. IBM SPSS Modeler 14.1 was used for correlation analysis, and IBM SPSS Statistics 21 was used for clustering and factor analysis. A total of 501 prescriptions for digestive system tumors were studied, involving 651 kinds of Chinese materia medica. Poria, Citri Reticulatae Pericarpium, Aucklandiae Radix, and Angelicae Sinensis Radix were the most frequently used drugs, and Poria-Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma, Sparganii Rhizoma-Curcumae Rhizoma, Citri Reticulatae Pericarpium-Aucklandiae Radix were the most frequently used drug pairs; Chinese herbal medicine categories of heat-clearing drugs, deficiency-tonifying drugs, blood-activating and stasis-removing drugs were the most frequently used. The highest frequency of Sparganii Rhizoma-Curcumae Rhizoma and Poria-Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma was found in correlation network diagram; Cluster analysis found 12 Chinese herbal medicine combinations; Six common factors were extracted from the analysis, and the highest loads in sequence were Atractylodis macrocephalae Rhizoma, Sparganii Rhizoma, and Rhei Radix et Rhizoma. The prescriptions of digestive system tumors contained in Cancer Prescription Daquan are based on the core of dispersing symptoms and resolving nodules. Its usually change and use flexibly drugs from three angles of regulating qi, removing dampness, promoting qi and reducing adverse reactions to disperse turbidity, activating blood circulation and benefiting qi, and eliminating blood stasis; clearing away heat, fighting toxins and activating blood circulation to resolve accumulate.