Houttuynia cordata Thunb. (HCT) is a well-known Asian medicinal plant with biological activities used in the treatment of many diseases including
cancer. This study investigated the effects of HCT extract and its
ethyl acetate fraction (EA) on prostate
carcinogenesis and
castration-resistant
prostate cancer (CRPC). HCT and EA induced apoptosis in
androgen-sensitive
prostate cancer cells (LNCaP) and CRPC cells (PCai1) through activation of
caspases, down-regulation of
androgen receptor, and inactivation of AKT/ERK/MAPK signaling.
Rutin was found to be a major component in HCT (44.00 ± 5.61 mg/g) and EA (81.34 ± 5.21 mg/g) in a previous study.
Rutin had similar effects to HCT/EA on LNCaP cells and was considered to be one of the active compounds. Moreover, HCT/EA inhibited cell migration and epithelial-mesenchymal transition phenotypes via STAT3/Snail/Twist pathways in LNCaP cells. The consumption of 1% HCT-mixed diet significantly decreased the incidence of
adenocarcinoma in the lateral prostate lobe of the Transgenic rat for
adenocarcinoma of prostate model. Similarly,
tumor growth of PCai1 xenografts was significantly suppressed by 1% HCT treatment. HCT also induced caspase-dependent apoptosis via AKT inactivation in both in vivo models. Together, the results of in vitro and in vivo studies indicate that HCT has inhibitory effects against prostate
carcinogenesis and CRPC. This plant therefore should receive more attention as a source for the future development of non-toxic chemopreventive agents against various
cancers.