ABSTRACT
Objective:To study the in vitro and in vivo anti-tumor effect of lentinan combined with 5-FU. Methods:MTT method was used to determine the proliferation of H22 in vitro, and the cell cycle changes were analyzed by a flow cytometry. The in vivo anti-tumor effect was evaluated in Kunming mice. The tumor inhibitory rate, thymus/spleen index, IL-2, IL-6 and TNF-α were deter-mined. Results:The in vitro results revealed that lentinan had no obvious effect on the inhibitory rate and cell cycle of the cells treated with 5-FU. In vivo results showed that lentinan at the dosage of 25 and 50 mg·kg-1 could obviously enhance the anti-tumor effect of 5-FU(P<0. 05). Furthermore, lentinan could increase the thymus/spleen index of the tumor-bearing mice. Conclusion:Lentinan com-bined with 5-FU has synergistic effects on anti-tumor activity through nonspecific immune stimulation rather than the direct killing of tumor cells.