Cancer cachexia is a multifactorial
metabolic syndrome that affects ∼50%-80% of
cancer patients, and no effective
therapy for
cancer cachexia is presently available. In
traditional Chinese medicine, a large portion of patients with
cancer cachexia was diagnosed as spleen deficiency syndrome and treated with tonifying TCMs that produce clinic benefits. In this study we established a new animal model of spleen deficiency and
cancer cachexia in mice and evaluated the
therapeutic effects of
atractylenolide I, an active component of tonifying TCM
BaiZhu, in the mouse model.
Cancer cachexia was induced in male BALB/c mice by inoculation of mouse C26
colon adenocarcinoma cells, whereas spleen deficiency syndrome was induced by treating the mice with spleen deficiency-inducing factors, including limited feeding,
fatigue, and purging. The mouse model was characterized by both
cachexia and spleen deficiency characteristics, including significant
body weight loss,
cancer growth,
muscle atrophy, fat lipolysis, spleen, and thymus
atrophy as compared with healthy control mice,
cancer cachexia mice, and spleen deficiency mice.
Oral administration of
atractylenolide I (20 mg· kg-1per day, for 30 days) significantly ameliorated the reduction in
body weight and
atrophy of muscle, fat, spleen, and thymus in mice with spleen deficiency and
cachexia. The established model of spleen deficiency and
cancer cachexia might be useful in the future for screening possible anticachexia TCMs and clarifying their mechanisms.