The herb medicine formula "Yang Wei Kang Liu" improves the survival of late stage gastric cancer patients and induces the apoptosis of human gastric cancer cell line through Fas/Fas ligand and Bax/Bcl-2 pathways.

Abstract

The herb medicine formula "Yang Wei Kang Liu" (YWKLF) has been used to inhibit the metastasis of human gastric cancer to prolong patient survival. In this study, we evaluated the effect of combination of chemotherapy with YWKLF on the survival of stage IV gastric cancer patients and the potential mechanisms of YWKLF by focusing on its capacity to activate apoptotic pathways in human gastric cancer cell line MGC-803. We found that combination of chemotherapy with oral administration of YWKLF significantly increased the survival of stage IV gastric cancer patients. In an approach of "serum pharmacology" in which sera were collected from rabbits orally administered with YWKLF and examined for their anti-tumor cell activity in vitro, we observed that sera from rabbits administered with YWKLF induced the apoptosis of MGC-803 cells by causing the loss of mitochondrial membrane potential, increasing the expression of Fas protein and Bax mRNA, as well as down-regulating Fas-L mRNA. Our results suggest that activation of major pro-apoptotic pathways may account for the anti-gastric cancer activity of YWKLF, which may provide a basis for isolation and identification of more highly effective anti-cancer components.

• Authors: Jie Li, Gui-Zhi Sun, Hong-Sheng Lin, Ying-Xia Pei, Xin Qi, Cheng An, Jun Yu, Bao-Jin Hua
• Journal: International immunopharmacology (Int Immunopharmacol) Vol. 8 Issue 9 Pg. 1196-206 (Sep 2008) ISSN: 1567-5769 [Print] Netherlands
• PMID: 18602065 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Chemical References

• Antigens, Nuclear
• Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic
• Drugs, Chinese Herbal
• Fas Ligand Protein
• Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2
• Tetrazolium Salts
• Thiazoles
• bcl-2-Associated X Protein
• nucleolar organizer region associated proteins
• yang wei kang liu
• thiazolyl blue
• Acridine Orange

Topics

• Acridine Orange
• Animals
• Antigens, Nuclear (metabolism)
• Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic (therapeutic use)
• Apoptosis (drug effects)
• Cell Line, Tumor
• Cell Survival (drug effects)
• Drugs, Chinese Herbal (therapeutic use)
• Fas Ligand Protein (genetics, physiology)
• Flow Cytometry
• Humans
• Karnofsky Performance Status
• Membrane Potentials (drug effects)
• Mitochondrial Membranes (drug effects)
• Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 (genetics, physiology)
• Rabbits
• Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
• Stomach Neoplasms (drug therapy, pathology)
• Survival
• Tetrazolium Salts
• Thiazoles
• bcl-2-Associated X Protein (genetics, physiology)