We have shown that the natural compound z-
butylidenephthalide (Bdph), isolated from the
chloroform extract of Angelica sinensis, has antitumor effects. Because of the limitation of the blood-brain barrier, the Bdph dosage required for treatment of
glioma is relatively high. To solve this problem, we developed a local-release system with Bdph incorporated into a biodegradable polyanhydride material,
p(CPP-SA; Bdph-Wafer), and investigated its antitumor effects. On the basis of in vitro release kinetics, we demonstrated that the Bdph-Wafer released 50% of the available Bdph by the sixth day, and the release reached a plateau phase (90% of Bdph) by the 30th day. To investigate the in situ antitumor effects of the Bdph-Wafer on
glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), we used 2 xenograft animal models-F344 rats (for rat GBM) and nude mice (for human GBM)-which were injected with RG2 and DBTRG-05MG cells, respectively, for
tumor formation and subsequently treated subcutaneously with Bdph-Wafers. We observed a significant inhibitory effect on
tumor growth, with no significant adverse effects on the rodents. Moreover, we demonstrated that the antitumor effect of Bdph on RG2 cells was via the PKC pathway, which upregulated Nurr77 and promoted its translocation from the nucleus to the cytoplasm. Finally, to study the effect of the interstitial administration of Bdph in cranial
brain tumor, Bdph-Wafers were surgically placed in FGF-SV40 transgenic mice. Our Bdph-Wafer significantly reduced
tumor size in a dose-dependent manner. In summary, our study showed that
p(CPP-SA) containing Bdph delivered a sufficient concentration of Bdph to the
tumor site and effectively inhibited the
tumor growth in the
glioma.