Cis-platinum (II) diammine dichloride (CDDP) is a
platinum-based
anticancer agent, and is often used for
chemotherapy for malignant
tumors, albeit CDDP has serious side-effects, including
xerostomia (dry mouth). Since patients with
xerostomia have reduced quality of life, it is urgent and important to identify nontoxic and natural agents capable of reducing the adverse effect of
chemotherapy on salivary gland function. Therefore, we commenced an institutional collaborative project in which candidates of herbal extracts were selected from more than 400 bioactive herbal products for their potential
therapeutic effects not only on
xerostomia, but also on oral diseases. In the present study, we report on two Chinese medical herbal extracts from the root barks of Juncus effusus and Paeonia suffruticosa. The two extracts showed a protective effect in NS-SV-Ac cells from the cytotoxicity and apoptosis caused by CDDP. The effect was dependent on the p53 pathway,
protein kinase B/Akt 1 and mitochondrial apoptosis-related
proteins (i.e. Bcl-2 and Bax), but was not dependent on nuclear factor κB. Notably, the apoptosis-protective effect of the extracts was not observed in
adenocystic carcinoma cell lines. Although these extracts have been utilized in
traditional Chinese medicine for hundreds of years, there are no reports to our knowledge, on their
therapeutic effects on
xerostomia. Thus, in the present study, we elucidated the potency of these herbal extracts as novel candidates for
xerostomia to improve the quality of life of patients undergoing
chemotherapy.